Jean Love Interview

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman head men's and women's tennis coach Jean Love has set her schedule for the 2017 spring season.

"We have a really good schedule this year, it's very challenging, very tough, but that's okay." Coach Jean Love said, "We need to go and play the best."

The schedule kicks off with a weekend road trip to Orlando, Fla. against Florida Tech on Feb. 11, and Palm Beach Atlantic on Feb. 12. The month of February will also include matches against Bellarmine University, Tennessee Wesleyan and the first South Atlantic Conference match of the season against Anderson (S.C.) University.

"Palm Beach Atlantic and Florida Tech are going to bring two really solid teams. We have an opportunity to go down and play in some warm weather in February against good competition." Love said, "…testing ourselves against the best is going to help us get ready for our conference schedule."

The month of March begins with three consecutive road trips to Tusculum, Lenior-Rhyne and Coker. The first home match of the month is against arch-rival Lincoln Memorial on the 13^th, followed by a visit from the University of Illinois-Springfield on the 15^th.

"It'll be a good match for us (against, Illinois-Springfield) and it will give us a break from our conference schedule, but it will also be a team that challenges us going into the second half of our season" Love said.

The Eagles finish out the month of March with road trips to Wingate, Catawba and University of the Cumberlands. The lone home match is against Newberry on the 26^th.

An April Fool's Day trip to Brevard starts things off for the Eagles in the month of April. Carson-Newman ends the season on a six-match home stand against King, Reinhardt, Queens, Mars Hill, North Georgia and Lee.

The men's tennis team finished last season with an overall record of 6-14 and a conference record of 3-8. The men return No. 1 singles player J.P. Oliveira (Brazil) who finished last season with a record of 8-11.

"The guys have some help coming in as well. We only lost one player from our men's team, we have a real solid group back. We're poised to have a good year" Love said.  

During the fall season the Eagles played in The University of the Cumberlands tennis tournament and played very competitively. JP Oliveira and Gabriel Dabdab (Brazil) won their match at No. 1 doubles over Tennessee Wesleyan. Marc Bantel (Urbach, Germany) and Stefano Daza (Venezula) also picked up a victory over Tennessee Wesleyan at the No. 2 doubles spot.

Oliveira, Dabdab and Bantel also picked up victories in singles competition, along with Taylor Barie (Woodstock, G.A.) and Joseph Stiles (New Oxford, P.A.).

The women's tennis team finished last season with an overall record of 14-6, their best finish to a season since the 2009 season when they made it to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament. They finished conference play with a record of 5-6.

The Eagles return two of their top three singles players with Ali Harris (Crossville, Tenn.) and Jill Corsato-Owsianka (Germany). Harris collected a 12-7 season at the No. 1 spot during her freshman campaign for the Eagles. Corsato-Owsianka collected a 15-2 record at the No. 3 spot and a 2-0 record at the No. 2 spot.

The Eagles were crippled by injuries during the fall season. Mallory Jackson (Erwin, Tenn.), Lindy Tatum (Henderson, Tenn.) and Merry Carson (Huntsville, Tenn.) were the only players healthy enough to compete. Jackson and Tatum picked up a win in doubles before weather cancelled the conclusion of the tournament. Lindy also picked up a win in straight sets during singles play.

"The women had a rough fall, we had several injuries to key players. The fall was a good productive times for both teams." Love said, "I was pleased with where we are, although we lost some players to graduation, we got some new folks to come in and help us."

"This group both on the men's and women's side can take a step forward this year and that's what I'm expecting them to do" Love said, "I'm really looking forward to it."

Carson-Newman 2017 tennis schedule men and women

 A-Away Match

H-Home Match

N-Neutral Site Match (Orlando, F.L.)

*- Conference Match