HAMMOND, La. – Southeastern Louisiana University has named Amy Blanke the new head beach volleyball coach, SLU Director of Athletics Jay Artigues announced Tuesday.
Blanke's promotion is pending approval by the University of Louisiana System's Board of Supervisors. Blanke replaces three-time Southland Conference Indoor Volleyball Coach of the Year Jeremy White, who was announced as the new head coach at Liberty last Friday.
"We would like to thank Jeremy for building a championship indoor volleyball program and helping us start the beach volleyball program," Artigues commented. "We wish him the best in the future. Amy has successful Southland Conference head coaching experience and will continue our beach volleyball program's commitment to excellence in the classroom, in the community and in competition."
Blanke joined the growing Southeastern beach volleyball program as an assistant coach prior to the 2024 season. In the fourth full season in program history, the Beach Lions set new school marks for overall (13) and conference (four) victories.
"I'm excited for this opportunity to continue to build this program," Blanke commented. "I was able to build a level of trust and respect this spring with our student-athletes, so having that kind of relationship in place will help ease the transition. This will be the first time Southeastern has a coach dedicated solely to beach volleyball. Our players want to be challenged and will be as we all work together towards the goal of winning a Southland Conference championship and being one of the top teams in the nation."
Prior to coming to Hammond, Blanke spent seven seasons at Southland Conference rival New Orleans, serving as head coach for her final three seasons at UNO. The Privateers posted consecutive 20-win seasons in her final two campaigns. She also coached the SLC Pair of the Year, Freshman of the Year and All-Academic Pair of the Year during her time in the Big Easy.
Blanke's coaching resume also includes stops at Tulane, NOLA Volleyball Club and East Valley Juniors. As a student-athlete, she helped Cleveland State to a conference title as a sophomore as the Vikings' libero. 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.
A native of Cleveland, Blanke earned her bachelor's degree in health science and psychology from Cleveland State in 2012. She finished her playing career as a beach volleyball student-athlete at ULM, advancing to the Collegiate Nationals before completing her master's degree in 2014.
The Beach Lions will open the 2025 season Feb. 21-22 at the Tulane Invitational in New Orleans.
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. All membership fees and donations to both the Diggin' It Club and S Club (volleyball) are available for the exclusive use of the Southeastern volleyball program. Membership information is available by contacting the Lion Athletics Association at laa@southeastern.edu or (985) 549-5091 or visiting www.LionUp.com.
SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information on Lady Lion Beach Volleyball, follow @LionUpBeach on X and Instagram, and like /SLUathletics on Facebook.
