JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman men's tennis gear up for first match of the season against the Citadel on Sunday.
"We're excited," Coach Jim Frederick said. "We're all excited to start and see how good we are. We've practiced hard, and we've gotten better and it's time to see just how much better we've gotten."
Already 3-9 on the season, the Citadel gives the Eagles some division I competition as they prepare for conference play in just a few weeks. Frederick wants to see his athletes focus on competing as hard as they can and maintaining a positive mindset throughout the match.
"If we do those two things, the results will take care of themselves."
Coach Frederick has been focusing on getting the doubles teams situated and figuring out the right partnerships in the right order on that side of the game. Additionally, on the singles side, the Eagles have been learning in practice to play more offense in matches at the right time.
"The better competition you play, you can't keep just getting the ball back," Frederick said. "You've got to play offense, when it's time to play offense."
The Eagles will see three freshmen in the top six in Victor Ireno (Sau Paulo, Brazil), Rintaro Oka (Narita, Chiba) and Hernan Toledo (Santiago, Chile). Toledo just joined the Eagles on campus a few weeks ago at the beginning of January, and Frederick is excited to see how he plays.
"He's amazingly physically talented," Frederick said of Toledo. "It's exactly what we thought. Mentally he's got some things that he's got to get better at and more mature at but that's normal for a freshman.
The Eagles will begin play at 10 a.m. Sunday morning at the University of Tennessee as a neutral site. For results and more information check back on cneagles.com.
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