Rhod Atkinson - Assistant Coach - Staff Directory

Staff Directory

Rhod Atkinson

Title:
Assistant Coach
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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.