Catherine Dunagan was named the head women's tennis coach in August of 2019. Since then, Dunagan has claimed a 73-35 record, two ASUN Tournament Championships, three regular season ASUN titles, an NCAA Tournament victory, two ASUN Coach of the Year honors and the program's first-ever NCAA Singles and Doubles appearance.
Year-by-Year
2023-24 | 12-10, 7-3 ASUN
2022-23 | 18-7, 7-1 ASUN (ASUN Tournament Champions and ASUN Regular Season Championship)
2021-22 | 15-9, 8-1 ASUN (ASUN Regular Season Champions)
2020-21 | 18-8, 6-0 ASUN (ASUN Tournament Champions and Regular Season Champions)
2019-20 | 10-1 (Season Shortened Due to COVID-19 Pandemic)
Career Highlights at UNF (73-35 record at UNF through 5 seasons)
- 2x ASUN Coach of the Year
- 2x ASUN Tournament Champion
- 3x ASUN Regular Season Champion
- Won the 10th ASUN Tournament Championship in program history - April 22, 2023
- Helped UNF to a No. 10 ITA Regional Ranking to close out the 2023 season
- Won her third regular season title in as many seasons - April 7, 2023
- Saw Kit Gulihur earn the second NCAA Elite 90 honor in as many seasons while making the second NCAA Singles Championships appearance in as many years - May 22, 2023
- Gulihur and Melilo make the program's first NCAA Singles and Doubles Championship appearances in program history respectively - May 23 and 24, 2022.
- UNF earns a share of the 2022 ASUN Regular Season Championship - Apr. 16, 2022
- Won the program's first-ever home match against an SEC foe, defeating Missouri, 4-1 - Feb. 27, 2022
- Saw Kit Gulihur and Ana Paula Melilo to the ITA Southeast Regionals Doubles Championship and an invitation to nationals - Oct. 18, 2021
- Defeated No. 25 Ole Miss in the NCAA Regionals First Round (May 7, 2021) - 1st Win in the NCAA Championship in UNF DI History
- 2021 ASUN Coach of the Year - April 29, 2021
- Won 2021 ASUN Championship - April 24, 2021
- Reached 100-Career Wins - April 23, 2021
Dunagan comes to UNF following one season serving as the associate head coach for women's tennis at Furman University. Prior to that, she had a seven-year stint as the head women's tennis coach at Presbyterian College and another two seasons leading the Newberry College program.
In her season at Furman, the Paladins posted a 26-1 overall mark and perfect 7-0 SoCon record and concluded the season ranked 55th nationally. Furman, which claimed its third-consecutive and 19th overall Southern Conference title in 2019, put together a 23-match winning streak, the longest in Furman history. The Paladins, who climbed as high as 40th in the national poll, secured the SoCon's automatic bid the NCAA Championships and earned a No. 3 seed in the tournament for just the second time in program history.
Additionally, Furman had individuals ranked in both the singles and doubles polls during the season, including SoCon Player of the Year Katarina Kozarov, who was ranked as high as 30
th and was 67th in the final poll, and the Furman doubles duo of Kozarov and SoCon Freshman of the Year Julia Adams, who rose as high as 40th in the rankings. Freshman Madison Dillon also earned a national singles ranking during the season.
Prior to her time at Furman, Dunagan served as the head women's tennis coach at Presbyterian for seven seasons. The winningest coach in Division I program history at Presbyterian, she amassed 74 wins at the helm of the Blue Hose program and achieved the first three winning seasons in Division I history in 2015, 2017, and 2018. She led Presbyterian to its first Big South Conference tournament victory in 2018, as the Blue Hose upset Charleston Southern, 4-2, in the opening round to advance to the semifinals.
In 2017, under Dunagan's tutelage, Tracy Johnson became the first Blue Hose player to earn All-Big South first team accolades after posting a 14-7 record. At the 2017 ITA Regional Championship, Dunagan coached Beth Taylor and Brittany Nuttall to victories over Davidson and Elon as the Blue Hose duo reached the round of 16.
Prior to her time at Presbyterian, Dunagan spent two seasons as the head women's tennis coach and compliance coordinator at Newberry.
A native of Opelika, Ala., Dunagan earned a bachelor's degree in psychology with a minor in mathematics from Presbyterian in 2007. A four-year letter winner for the Blue Hose, she played in the No. 1 singles and doubles position, leading Presbyterian to four-straight conference titles and a 24-1 league record during her career. A four-time All-Southern Atlantic Conference (SAC) selection, Dunagan was honored as the SAC Tournament MVP as a senior. She also earned the Greek Athlete of the Year award as a Zeta Tau Alpha member during the 2006-07 season.
Dunagan enjoys life at the beach with her three beautiful children, Ellis, Sloane and Banks.
