South Atlantic Conference Release

Video: Jim Frederick Interview

ROCK HILL, S.C. – Ahead of the spring 2021 campaign getting started in just over a week, Carson-Newman women's tennis projected eighth in the South Atlantic Conference preseason poll, as announced by the league Thursday.

"My first year with the girls, we were picked for 11^th but only one point away from fourth. The girls this year has an enormous amount of talent from top to bottom," head coach Jim Frederick said. "The talent on the girls side is the best it has been since I've gotten here."

Finishing with 83 votes, C-N drops one spot from last season of seventh but improves by 16 total points. The Eagles went on to finish eighth in the SAC in 2019 with a 6-4 record overall, respectively. A pair of schools earned first-place votes in the preseason poll with Wingate selected first, racking up twelve first-place votes for a total of 156 points. The Bulldogs held an unblemished 6-0 record last season to win the SAC regular-season title. Queens checks in at second place with no first-place votes but 138 total points as voted on by coaches. The only other SAC school to receive first-places votes was Tusculum, who checks in at third with one first-place nominations and a total of 131 points. Rounding out the top-6 for the preseason poll are as follows: Lenoir-Rhyne (123 points), Anderson (110 points) and Lincoln Memorial (90 points).

Frederick spoke about gaining new players to fill certain roles as the team prepares to tackle a season which no one can anticipate what comes next.

"This is one of the best Division II conferences in all the country. Just look at last year when seven of the teams were nationally ranked," Frederick said. "We had a good season last year before we were shut down. The new girls we have coming in will have to realize their opponents will be bigger, stronger, and faster than them which is what we'll have to deal with."

Along with the placement of eighth in the preseason poll, Carson-Newman women's tennis had one player named to the preseason first-team All-SAC squad, junior Ana Carla Resende (Minas Gerais, Brazil).

Resende comes off a strong year where she was All-SAC First Team Singles and the 2019 SAC Freshman of the Year. In her playing career, she held a 7-2 record at the No. 1 singles, acculumuating a pair of three-match winning streaks throughout the season. In doubles, she was 6-3 with partners such as Anita Chornei (Kyiv, Ukraine), Klara Vuckovic (Reutlingen, Germany), and Abby Reis (Des Moines, IA.). With Vuckovic, the pair went a perfect 2-0 as the No. 1 and 3, while Resende and Reis finished the season with three-straight wins.

The Eagles serve up the 2021 season on Feb. 6 at 2 p.m. against Union (Ky.) at the Knoxville Racquet Club.

2021 SAC Women's Tennis Preseason Poll

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