VIDEO: Jean Love Interview
ROCK HILL, S.C. – The Carson-Newman men's tennis team landed at eighth-place in the South Atlantic Conference preseason coaches' poll released by the league on Thursday.
Head coach Jean Love's squad finished the 2016-17 season with a 7-10 overall record, 5-6 in conference play that was good enough for a seventh-place finish in the league's final standings.
"I do believe that we can finish better than that, but it's going to be up to us to do that," Love said of her team. "We've got to focus on the process things to get better so that we can put ourselves into positions to win more when it's time to win. I've got no problem with where we're picked; it has nothing to do with where you finish though.
"I think we need to build on the seven wins and know that in some of those losses, if we could have played a little better here or there, the outcome would have been different, not could have but would have. So, a thing we can take away is that, you know what, we can play, and when things go wrong sometimes or crunch time comes, we don't need to back down. We can play and they need to bring that with them."
The Eagles return eight players this season including sophomore Gabriel Dabdab (Rio de Janerio, Brazil) and senior Kevin Mendes (Chattanooga, Tenn.) who both had double-digit win totals last season.
Dabdab garnered a 10-7 record in his first season with the Eagles, going 5-4 against conference opponents. In doubles action, he and Joao Pedro Oliveira collected a 12-6 overall record as the No. 2 doubles team, being named a first team All-SAC duo at the end of 2017.
Mendes collected an 11-4 overall record with an 8-3 conference mark at the No. 6 singles position for the Orange and Blue.
"We've got our top six who we'll put out there that all have experience," Love assessed. "They're definitely not freshmen, some have played for a couple of years, some have played for three years and some have just got one year under their belt; they're all kind of seasoned."
Two freshmen, Daniel Cox (Chattanooga, Tenn.) and Jonathan Sabo (Maryville, Tenn.) join the Eagles side this season to round out the 10-man roster.
Oliveira makes the move from student-athlete to coach, serving as a graduate assistant after closing out his career with C-N in 2017.
"JP in terms of being an assistant coach can bring a lot to the table; he's a sharp tennis guy, has good people skills, just an intelligent guy all the way around," Love said. "He can bring a lot to the table not only for the men's team but for the women's team as well and he already has in terms of coaching."
Queens (N.C.) garnered the most votes in the league with 108, also receiving eight first-place votes after finishing the 2017 regular season with a perfect 11-0 record in South Atlantic Conference play, 16-2 overall. Holding the top seed heading into the Conference Tournament, the Royals glided through to remain perfect and take the crown.
After losing to Queens in the SAC Championship, Wingate landed at the second place position in the poll, receiving 101 total votes and two first-place votes. They closed out 2017 with a 17-5 overall record, 10-1 in the conference.
With just one first-place vote, Newberry received 83 total votes, good enough for third place.
Two points separated Lincoln Memorial and Anderson (S.C.) for the fourth and fifth place sports, respectively, as the Railsplitters garnered 80 votes.
Tusculum and Lenoir-Rhyne made it just above C-N with votes that placed them at sixth and seventh.
Catawba, Coker and Mars Hill rounded out the lower margin of the poll, receiving 41, 33 and 21 votes, respectively.
The Eagles' 2018 campaign begins on Feb. 3 as C-N hosts Delta State at 1 p.m. at the Buddy Catlett Tennis Complex. Conference play will begin on March 11 with a trip to Newberry.
Rank School (first-place votes) Total
1. Queens (8) 108
2. Wingate (2) 101
3. Newberry (1) 83
4. Lincoln Memorial 80
5. Anderson 78
6. Tusculum 72
7. Lenoir-Rhyne 55
8. Carson-Newman 43
9. Catawba 41
10. Coker 33
11. Mars Hill 21
