University of St. Francis (III.)

Head coach Lyle Hicks only needed one year of seasoning before his troops were ready to make their way onto the national tournament circuit courtesy of Blim and former CSF Hall of Fame inductees, Bob Tomasino (1991) and Lee Irvin (1993). One year after starting the program in 1977, Hicks recruited both Blim and Irvin and the rest was history. The former, who played at the #4-#6 singles spot and teamed up with Jerry Witty at #2 doubles for much of his career, went on to make his way into the CSF record books in 12 separate categories, including the top marks for most singles wins in a career (79) and most doubles matches won (25 in 1978) and played in a season (34 in 1978). He also holds Top Three standings in overall wins (47), singles wins (25), singles matches played (34), all matches played (65) in a season and career marks in overall wins (144) and overall matches played (211). Numbers like those helped boost the Saints to back-to-back 25th-place finishes and, individually, led to both two conference and district championships, not to mention NAIA Honorable Mention Academic All-American status for Blim.