Avery Blackmon joined Head Coach Maddie Coleman as the full time assistant coach for the women's lacrosse program in January 2023.
Blackmon arrives in Lexington with a wide variety of lacrosse coaching experiences since graduating from Georgetown College (Ky.) in 2019. The 2019 NAIA Player of the Year spent the 2022 season at Division I Central Michigan as the first assistant. At CMU, Blackmon led all the skill, practice and game plan implementation for the draw unit and assisted with the offensive strategies and development. While Central Michigan was searching for a new head coach, Blackmon served as the interim head coach and assisted with the transition.
"Our program is really fortunate to bring on Coach Blackmon to the staff," state Coleman. "Avery has collected a lot of experience at different levels in such a short amount of time. Avery's experience in the midfield, the draw and offensive schemes will be a positive addition to our program and we are excited to get started."
As a player, the Georgia native was a force in the midfield as Blackmon racked up 584 draw controls with 302 goals and 125 assists for 427 points. Blackmon's individual statistics helped garner four NAIA First Team All-America awards and was named All-Conference each year in addition to being named NWLL Conference Player and Rookie of the Year. The three-time captain helped the Tigers make an appearance in the NAIA National Tournament on three occasions and were runner-ups in 2016.
The midfielder studied psychology and studio art at Georgetown and earned a masters in health and human performance in 2022. An NAIA Scholar-Athlete and an Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association Scholar-Athlete Award recipient in 2019, Blackmon was a member of the Dean's List for three years.
After graduation, Blackmon spent the 2020 and 2021 seasons at Division III Hartwick College as an assistant coach. While in Oneonta, Blackmon assisted with practice plans, game strategy, camps, clinics and recruiting. While there, the Hawks improved in clearing rates, converting free positions and draw controls.
Within the athletic department at Hartwick Blackmon helped performed game management duties for fall and winter varsity sports.
From 2017-19, Blackmon worked as a head coach for both high school and middle school teams at Fast and Furious Travel Lacrosse in Ball Ground, Ga.
"I am really excited to have the opportunity to work with the W&L women's lacrosse team," Blackmon said. "The program has such a strong history of athletic and academic success. I am looking forward to helping these student-athletes develop their skills to reach their personal and team goals next to Coach Coleman."
At Washington and Lee, Blackmon will assist in all aspects of the women's lacrosse program and work closely with the midfielders in and on the draw circle.
Amanda Daniels returns for her 10th season as Head Women's Lacrosse Coach at Denison University in 2023.
Few coaches have had a better start to their careers than Daniels. In nine years and eight full seasons (2020 season was shortened due to COVID-19) as the Big Red head coach, she has guided Denison to eight straight NCAA Division III Tournament appearances, a Final Four appearance in 2021, five North Coast Athletic Conference championships and seven NCAC Tournament titles. From April 11, 2015, to April 2, 2022, the Big Red won 45 consecutive regular-season conference games.
At Denison, Daniels has compiled an impressive record of 111-42 (.725 pct.) while going 55-5 (.917 pct.) in NCAC contests. She was named the NCAC Coach of the Year in 2014 and 2016, and is a three-time IWLCA Great Lakes Region Coach of the Year in 2016, 2019, and 2021. On February 27, 2022, Denison defeated Dickinson College 17-11 as Coach Daniels earned her 100th career win as head coach of the Big Red.
The Denison women's lacrosse team received an at-large bid to the 2022 NCAA Division III Tournament, and thanks to the game-winning goal just over one minute into overtime by junior attacker Jane Bailey, earned a big 13-12 comeback victory at home over Catholic University during the second round of the tournament. In the end, the Big Red ended their ninth year under Coach Daniels with a 12-7 overall record and a runner-up finish in the NCAC both during the regular season and during the conference tournament while advancing to the NCAA Sweet 16 for the fourth season in a row and for the seventh time in school history. Additionally, for the second year in a row, senior Casey McTague was named a Second-Team All-American, a CoSIDA Third-Team Academic All-American® and was the NCAC Midfielder of the Year while joining McTague on the All-NCAC first-team was Bailey and sophomore defender Kate Coward.
In 2021, the Big Red had an historic run into the NCAA Tournament that saw them fall to eventual National Champion Salisbury in the Final Four. The Big Red finished the season 12-2 overall, went undefeated in the NCAC (5-0) for the fifth full season in a row, won their fifth straight NCAC Championship and captured their seventh straight NCAC tournament title. Daniels coached three All-Americans in Casey McTague, Charlotte Godfrey, and Liza Farnham. Farnham was named NCAC Offensive Player of the Year and McTague was named NCAC Midfielder of the Year.
In 2019, Daniels and the Big Red rolled through the NCAC with another percent 8-0 record. The team finished the year with a 16-5 record while facing one of the most difficult schedules in school history. Four of Denison's five losses came against nationally-ranked opponents and on March 22, the Big Red defeated No. 23 Rowan, 16-15 in overtime. In the postseason awards, Jane Goodspeed was named to the IWLCA All-American team for the second time while repeating at the NCAC's Defensive Player of the Year. First-year Casey McTague was named the NCAC's Newcomer of the Year. Denison qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the 21st time and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 for the fifth time.
In five years at Morrisville State (N.Y.), Daniels posted a 41-41 record while leading the Mustangs to the program’s first North Eastern Athletic Conference regular season and tournament championship in 2012. That season, she was named the NEAC Coach of the Year after her squad posted a program-best 13-6 record and went 9-0 in conference play. Daniels has a career head coaching record of 152-83 (.647 pct.) in 14 seasons between Denison and Morrisville State,
Prior to her head coaching stint at Morrisville State, Daniels spent one year as the assistant women’s lacrosse coach and assistant women’s soccer coach at Hamilton College (N.Y.). While at Hamilton, Daniels helped guide the women’s lacrosse team to a 21-1 record and the program’s first NCAA Division III Championship in 2008. As a member of the women’s soccer coaching staff at Hamilton in 2007, that team would go on to post a 16-2-2 record while advancing to the NCAA Division III Tournament quarterfinals.
A 2003 graduate of Le Moyne College in Syracuse, New York, Daniels was a four-time first-team All-Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference selection in women’s lacrosse. She was a part of two MAAC Tournament championship teams and two NCAA Division I Tournament teams in 2002 and 2003. She served as a team captain in 2003 and left Le Moyne with 190 career points. Daniels was also a four-year member of the women’s soccer team at Le Moyne where she led the Dolphins in scoring as a senior.
After graduating Cum Laude with a bachelor of arts in English and communication, Daniels would go on to receive a masters’ degree in New Media from Syracuse University’s esteemed SI Newhouse School of Communications in 2004. While attending graduate school, Daniels spent one season as a part-time assistant coach at Le Moyne.
Following graduate school, Daniels would spend one year as the head lacrosse coach at Uppingham School in Rutland, England. After returning to the United States in the Fall of 2005, Daniels accepted a position with Windstar Studios as an account executive, video editor, and scriptwriter. In 2007 Daniels made her return to coaching at Hamilton.
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Year | Season at DU | Overall Record | Conference Finish/Accolades |
2014 | 1st | 13-5 | 3rd NCAC NCAC Tournament Champions NCAC Coach of the Year Advanced to NCAA Second Round |
2015 | 2nd | 11-7 | 3rd NCAC NCAC Tournament Champions Advanced to NCAA Second Round |
2016 | 3rd | 13-6 | 1st NCAC (NCAC Regular-Season Champions) NCAC Tournament Champions NCAC Coach of the Year Great Lakes Region Coach of the Year Advanced to NCAA Second Round |
2017 | 4th | 15-4 | 1st NCAC (NCAC Regular-Season Champions) NCAC Tournament Champions Advanced to NCAA Second Round |
2018 | 5th | 17-3 | 1st NCAC (NCAC Regular-Season Champions) NCAC Tournament Champions Advanced to NCAA Third Round (Sweet 16) |
2019 | 6th | 16-5 | 1st NCAC (NCAC Regular-Season Champions) NCAA Tournament Champions Great Lakes Region Coach of the Year Advanced to NCAA Third Round (Sweet 16) |
2020 | 7th | 2-3* | *Season Shortened due to COVID-19 |
2021 | 8th | 12-2 | 1st NCAC West (NCAC Regular-Season Champions) NCAC Tournament Champions Great Lakes Region Coach of the Year Advanced to NCAA Semifinals (Final Four) |
2022 | 9th | 12-7 | 2nd NCAC Advanced to NCAA Third Round (Sweet 16) |
Overall | 111-42 (.725 pct.) | Two-Time NCAC Coach of the Year Five NCAC Regular-Season Championships Seven NCAC Tournament Championships Eight NCAA Division III Tournament Appearances |
Tori Vernau returns to Denison University for her fourth season as an assistant coach with the Big Red women's lacrosse program in 2023.
In three years and two full seasons (2020 season was shortened due to COVID-19) since joining the team in September of 2019, Vernau has helped Denison to a North Coast Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament championship and subsequent NCAA Final Four appearance in 2021, followed by an NCAA Sweet 16 appearance in 2022. In addition, the Big Red have gone a combined 26-12 overall and 12-1 in the NCAC during Vernau’s first three years in Granville.
The Denison women's lacrosse team received an at-large bid to the 2022 NCAA Division III Tournament and earned a big 13-12 comeback victory at home over Catholic University during the second round of the tournament. In the end, the Big Red ended the year 12-7 overall with a runner-up finish in the NCAC both during the regular season and during the conference tournament.
During Vernau's first full season in Granville in 2021, the Big Red had an historic run into the NCAA Tournament that saw them fall to eventual National Champion Salisbury in the Final Four. The Big Red finished the season 12-2 overall, went undefeated in the NCAC (5-0) and won both the NCAC regular-season and tournament championships.
Vernau came to Denison after spending the 2019 season as a graduate assistant coach at Elmira College in Elmira, New York. In 2018 she was an assistant coach at Alma College, where she helped the Scots increase per-game averages for goals and draws, and mentored two All-MIAA selections.
Vernau graduated from NCAA Division II Tiffin University in 2017 where she left as one of the program’s all-time leading scorers, ranking third in goals (174) while departing as the program’s career-leader in draw controls (310). She was a three-time Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference first-team selection and a third-team All-North Region selection in 2016. That season she ranked third in NCAA Division II with 6.72 draws per game. Vernau was a Dean’s List student and a member of the Alpha Phi Sigma criminal justice honor society.
Vernau graduated Summa Cum Laude from NCAA Division II Tiffin University in 2017 where she left as one of the program’s all-time leading scorers, ranking third in goals (174) while departing as the program’s career-leader in draw controls (310). She was a three-time Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference selection and a third-team All-North Region selection in 2016. That season she ranked third in NCAA Division II with 6.72 draws per game which she recorded a career-high of 121 draw controls. Vernau earned a Bachelor of Criminal Justice in Forensic Psychology with a minor in Addiction’s Counseling. Vernau was a Dean’s List student, a member of the Alpha Phi Sigma criminal justice honor society and National Honor Society of leadership and success.
As an assistant coach, Vernau put a great deal of effort into the charitable efforts of the Alma and Elmira teams. At Alma, the Scots were recognized by the IWLCA with the Team Community Awareness Award for leading Division III with 741 community service hours. Since 2018, Vernau has also served as the head coach of the Minnesota Lakers Select club lacrosse team.