Jean Love Interview

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn.—Carson-Newman men and women's tennis coach Jean Love introduced her squad's 2016 regular season schedule earlier today, a slate which features 11 South Atlantic Conference and six non-conference contests.

"The South Atlantic Conference schools will be tough," coach Jean Love said. "We have a tough conference. It's a good conference. What our goal is for this season is to get back to the [SAC] conference tournament."

February offers four matches with two SAC teams and two squads from out of conference. Feb. 10^th starts things off with an away matchup at Newberry. Two weeks later the Eagles will come home for their first match at the newly renovated Carson-Newman Tennis Complex, as the teams play host to arch-rival Tusculum on Feb. 23^rd. The following weekend features a home and away slate with Southern Wesleyan and Converse College on the 27^th and 28^th.  

The month of March displays the largest amount of competition for the Eagles. Carson-Newman will take part in nine separate matches, beginning with four-straight SAC-matches with Catawba, Coker, Lenoir-Rhyne and Brevard, spanning from March 3^rd through March 15^th.  

Carson-Newman will then take part in two mid-week matchups as the Eagles travel to Queens on March 21^st and then return back home on March 29^th for a date with Wingate. March's scheduled slates will wrap up on the 31^st when the teams make the trek up to Lincoln Memorial.

The Eagles will conclude the 2016 regular season with four April matches. Two-straight road contest with Mars Hill and Lee on April 2^nd and 8^th start out the month, before returning back home for the season's final home match with North Georgia on the 13^th. Carson-Newman will conclude its season on the road at King on April 17^th.   

A depleted 2015 fall schedule saw all three of Carson-Newman's matches cancelled due to inclement weather, so the season's lid-lifter against Newberry will be the first time the Eagles will have gone against live competition for the first time since the conclusion of the 2015 spring schedule, and for the seven freshman, the matchup will be their collegiate debuts.

"We did have a slow fall in terms of competition against outside teams because of the weather and NCAA rules that limit the number of days you can practice and play," Love said. "I think that we are going to be okay. The new freshman that are going to help us out in the lineup are good and have experience. Obviously there are going to be some nerves, but they are going to be ready to play." 

Love will look to an abundance of upperclassman from both squads to pick up where they left off a season ago and to take the next step this season.

"Obviously the returners will have to bring some experience to the table this year," Love said. "We were close at times last year with a few points here and there for the win/loss records, so I think they are hungry. J. P. [Oliveira] and Patricia [Guerreiro] had good, solid years last year, so they are going to bring that back for us again this year, and we also have some other returners that will be bringing back a lot of experience for us."

"We are looking to have a solid season and once again, our goal is to play tournament tennis," Love said. "I think we can do it. We have the potential to do just that."

Carson-Newman 2016 Tennis Schedule—Men and Women

-CN-