JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn.—The Carson-Newman men's tennis team (0-0, 0-0) is set to kick off the 2016 regular season and its South Atlantic Conference slate with a conquest to Newberry, S.C. to take on the Wolves (8-1, 1-0) at 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
After a depleted fall schedule which saw all three of the Eagles' matches cancelled due to inclement weather, Carson-Newman will be gearing up for its first action of the year on Wednesday.
"We are ready. Our players are really excited and ready to go," coach Jean Love said ahead of the first match of the season. "We have been working hard and our fitness and conditioning programs have gone really well. We have gotten in a lot of good practice, so we are ready."
Looking to rid themselves of the 4-12 (3-8 SAC) record from a year ago, C-N will field a largely underclassmen prized roster but will also showcase four juniors and one senior in Juan Sebastian Perez (Ecuador) to lead the way.
Juniors Stefano Daza (Venezuela), Jerry Hughes (Shelbyville, Tenn.), Joao Pedro Oliveira (Brazil) and Lee Presson (Crossville, Tenn.) will link up with Perez to lead the team comprised of three freshman and three sophomores.
Taylor Barie (Woodstock, Ga.), Jordan Knott (Louisville, Ky.) and Kevin Mendes (Woodstock, Ga.) are back for their second year of play in the orange and blue, while Marc Bantel (Germany), Jesus Barcete (Spain) and Kyle Stills (Brownsville, Tenn.) will be making their collegiate debuts against Newberry on Wednesday.
Newberry hasn't missed a beat this year as the Wolves played in five matches during their fall slate. The lone loss of the season Newberry has to date came against the No. 5 team in the nation in Lander 9-0 on Feb. 4th.
The Wolves also welcome a heap of underclassmen to the 2016 roster as 10 freshman and sophomores will team up with senior Fernando Espana this season. Despite a large amount of inexperience, Newberry does sport the All-SAC preseason duo of Espana and Ternando Tous in doubles after clinching 16 wins during the '15 season.
Sophomore Jordan Monosky was also tabbed to the All-SAC preseason team after accumulating 16 wins in singles play a season ago.
Wednesday will mark the second SAC contest of the year for the Wolves. Newberry were winners over Mars Hill 9-0 over the weekend to pick up its first conference win of the season.
The last time these two squads faced off, Carson-Newman was on the losing end of the 6-3 outcome that took place on March 28th of last year.
"We are in control of what we do," Love said. "It really doesn't matter who we play or when we play. We are going to play smart tennis, keep our emotions in check and do our thing. We are competitors and we are ready to get out there and play."
To keep up with everything Carson-Newman tennis related, follow us on twitter at @CNathletics. A full recap of the Eagles' first match of the season against Newberry can be found on cneagles.com following the match Wednesday evening.
-CN-