After three seasons as a head coach at New Orleans, Amy Blanke has joined head Coach Jeremy White’s beach volleyball staff at Southeastern Louisiana for this upcoming season.
Blanke’s hire is pending approval of the University of Louisiana System’s Board of Supervisors. Blanke will serve as an assistant coach for the program, in addition to aiding in duties for both indoor and beach volleyball. This addition to Coach White’s staff offers another level of experience as Blanke was a part of several successful seasons at UNO.
During her time at New Orleans, the Privateers achieved a 7-3 record in 2020 before the season was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic. Blanke began her time at New Orleans as a volunteer beach volleyball coach in Spring 2017 while accepting a full time position concluding that season. Blanke helped the program accomplish its most successful winning season in 2019 with 15 wins. Amidst her time with the program, the Privateers also advanced to the championship game of the Southland Showcase in 2018.
Blanke also returned to Tulane for a time after helping with the East Valley Junior Volleyball Club and High Performance Arizona in 2014 and 2015. During that time she also competed for the USA U26 National Sand Volleyball-Elite 10 in 2014 and the Arizona Region of the Premier Volleyball League. At the helm of East Valley, Blanke assisted with both male and female athletes to prepare for competition in both local and national tournaments.
Blanke began her collegiate athletic career at Tulane and helped the Green Wave to their best year to date in Tulane’s short four-year history with an 18-10 overall record and a No. 19 national ranking, according to the final DiG Poll. Blanke finished her career at Cleveland State where she posted 1,481 digs, 155 assists, 99 service aces and 10 digs in 425 sets of work with the Vikings. Her career digs total ranks second in school history, while her 545 as a junior and 447 as a senior sit second and ninth in single-season history, respectively. She helped lead Cleveland State to a combined 81-42 record, including a 26-8 mark in 2008 when the Vikings won the Horizon League regular-season title.
The Cleveland, Ohio native earned her bachelor’s degree in health science and psychology at Cleveland State before attaining her master’s degree in exercise science from ULM in May 2013.
The Lady Lions will open week one of the season on the road in the Tulane Invitational to compete against Tulane Friday morning at 8:30 a.m. before matching up against North Alabama at 11 a.m. Southeastern will return Saturday morning to face Oregon at 11 a.m. and Spring Hill at 1:30 p.m. to close out the tournament.
DIGGIN’ IT CLUB / S CLUB
Fans interested in becoming active supporters of the Southeastern volleyball program are encouraged to join the Diggin’ It Club. Lion volleyball alums are encouraged to join the exclusive S Club, which is restricted to Southeastern athletic letter winners.