28 July 2023
EMPORIA (KSNT) – A new era of Emporia State tennis has begun.
Emporia State athletics announced Friday that John Blackburn will take over as the Hornet’s Director of Tennis for the 2023-24 season.
Blackburn comes from Division III Methodist University, where he spent eight seasons coaching the Monarchs. At Methodist, Blackburn coached the team to three regular season conference titles, two conference tournament titles and two NCAA tournament appearances.
In 2017, Blackburn was named the USA South Women’s Tennis Coach of the Year. In 2022-23, Methodist finished with a 13-6 record, 8-1 in conference play.
Blackburn was the head women’s tennis coach at Eastern Illinois from 2005-2015, where he holds the all-time record for most wins as a coach.
“We are excited to welcome John Blackburn and his family to Hornet Nation. John has a wealth of experience at all three NCAA divisions that has correlated into building championship level teams,” Emporia State Athletic Director David Spafford said in a press release. “It will be exciting to watch our tennis program under his direction along with Head Women’s Tennis Coach Cycy Peyroche.”