Rhod Atkinson - Men's Tennis Coach - UNC Asheville Athletics

Rhod Atkinson

Title:
Assistant Coach
Email:
ratkinso@unca.edu

The Bulldogs went 11-10 in dual action in Atkinson's third season on staff. Asheville collected several Big South Conference weekly awards along the way, with Harrison Cooper earning Freshman of the Week on Mar. 4 before Daniel Franco-Key earned back-to-back honors on Mar. 11 and Mar. 18. On Mar. 18 combined with the women's team, the Bulldogs executed a clean sweep of weekly awards for the first time since Gardner-Webb back on Mar. 10, 2022. Cooper then earned another Freshman of the Week honor on Mar. 25, before picking up another honor on Apr. 14. Leo Kolbe was also named to the Big South Conference All-Academic Team. The Bulldogs also posted two College Sports Communicators Academic All-District selections in Trevor Gray and Cian Ingles.

The Bulldogs posted another solid year with Atkinson on staff in 2024-25, as the Bulldogs reached the Big South Conference Championship match for the second straight year marking the first back-to-back title match appearances in the program's Division I history also playing in the UTR Sports NIT Championship. Asheville posted a 12-9 record on the season, going 8-2 at the Asheville Racquet Club Downtown. Asheville sported two First Team All-Conference selections in singles play in Freddy Murray and Tarek Erlewein, while Olle Sonesson Lidholt was named to the All-Conference Second Team in singles play. Asheville also had two Second Team All-Conference pairs in doubles in Murray/Cian Ingles and Lidholt/Erlewein. Lidholt was the Big South Conference's Co-Newcomer of the Year in the first year of the award, while Erlewein was the Big South Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year and also named to the All-Academic Team. Erlewein and Ingles also earned College Sports Communicators Academic All-District honors.

Atkinson was instrumental in an incredible display in his first season on staff with the Bulldogs in 2023-24, as Asheville went 16-8 on the season on the way to capturing the team’s first Big South Conference Championship since 1986 and the team’s first-ever berth in the NCAA Tourmament. Frost coached nine total Big South Conference All-Conference honors, including Scholar-Athlete of the Year Jon Brann Reid. Sam Nicholson and Freddy Murray each earned First Team All-Conference Singles honors, while Reid and Rafa Serra teamed up for First Team All-Conference Doubles honors. The teams of Bruno Serra/Cian Ingles and Nicholson/Murray each earned Second Team All-Conference honors in doubles, while Reid was also named to the Big South Conference All-Academic Team. Brann Reid, Rafa Serra and Bruno Serra earned College Sports Academic All-District honors, while Reid was also named the Big South Conference Male Scholar-Athlete of the year, a first for the program. The Bulldogs also earned Intercollegiate Tennis Association All-Academic Team honors in addition to posting five ITA Scholar-Athletes.

Rhod Atkinson comes to Asheville after a great playing career at Division II Lenoir-Rhyne University. Between singles and doubles play, he totaled a career record of 135-46, while being named All-Conference in both singles and doubles all four years. He was a Division II Intercollegiate Tennis Association All-American and was a three-year captain at Lenoir-Rhyne and then captain as a fifth-year player at Tusculum.

The Gloucester, England native holds a bachelor’s degree in management and finance from Lenoir-Rhyne and a Master’s of Business Administration from Tusculum.