VIDEO: Jean Love Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Following a substantial win over Mars Hill on Thursday, Carson-Newman gears up for a Tuesday afternoon senior day featuring a South Atlantic Conference rivalry meeting with No. 13 Tusculum at the Buddy Catlett Tennis Complex.
The Eagles (7-7, 4-4 SAC) took a 7-2 over Mars Hill that spearheaded off of a 3-0 sweep through doubles action. The Lions made a slight comeback early in singles play but it was not enough to push C-N off its tracks.
"I would hope that maybe there will be a little bit confidence there in knowing that they can get the job done," head coach Jean Love said. "It's going to be a real tough matchup for us."
The win helped Carson-Newman to notch its third winning streak of the season and placed Love's team in a tie for fifth with Lincoln Memorial in the conference standings, putting them in a spot to participate in the SAC Tournament.
The Eagles will honor a trio of seniors on Tuesday in Jill Corsato-Owsianka (Düesseldorf, Germany), Mallory Jackson (Erwin, Tenn.) and Sydney Ledington (Corbin, Ky.).
"This happens every year, you get to be a part of people's lives for a few years and then you've got to let them go and that's always tough," Love mentioned. "I hope that in 10, 15, 20 years and on, they'll look back and be really glad and happy that they did this thing at Carson-Newman, that they were student-athletes here, and that they'll look back on it and say, 'Yeah, I'm glad I did that.'"
Tusculum (17-0, 7-0 SAC) has yet to see a loss this season. The team's closest match came on Sunday as the Pioneers took a 5-4 win over No. 37 Queens. In road matches, they have won in either 8-1 or 9-0 decisions.
The Pioneers will battle Wingate on Monday before making the short trip to Mossy Creek.
Third-year head coach's Adam Jackson has three nationally-ranked players on his team including No. 31 Franziska Funke, No. 64 Katarina Majorova and No. 68 Annie McCullough.
Majorova has been the most relied on Pioneer at the No. 1 singles spot with a 12-1 record while Funke has been the top No. 2 player with an 11-1 record. As for McCullough, she has garnered a 12-0 record at the third-seeded position.
In doubles play, the nation's 14th-ranked pairing of McCullough and her sister Caitlin has gone 12-2 at the top-seeded position. A loss to Queens ended their seven-match winning streak.
Currently sitting tied at the top of the conference standings alongside Wingate, the Pioneers were projected to finish in that exact same scenario in the preseason conference coaches' poll with both teams receiving 101 first-place votes. Last season, Tusculum was 20-7 overall last season, 9-2 in conference action. The team won the conference tournament in a 5-4 decision over Wingate to give the Pioneers a spot in the NCAA Women's Tennis Southeast Regional where they lost to Armstrong State, 5-1.
Funke and Majorova were tabbed a first-team doubles pairing while Brittani Brooks and Amber Lackey were named to the doubles second-team. Majorova and Funke landed on the first team singles list while Annie McCullough was a second-team singles selection.
The last time meeting between C-N and TC ended with an 8-1 Tusculum win last season. Since 2010, the Eagles have yet to see a win against the Pioneers.
Tuesday's match is set to begin at 3:30 p.m. at the Buddy Catlett Tennis Complex with senior day festivities following the conclusion of the match.
