JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Men's and women's tennis head coach Jon Parker prepares to make his Eagles coaching debut at the Lincoln Memorial Invitational in Harrogate, Tennessee, on Friday.
"I'm excited to get on the court and coach them up," Parker said. "See what their personalities are like and see how they mesh with me and my coaching style."
C-N has five returners and two transfers on the men's side, creating a deep and experienced roster. For the women, they bring back five players and three freshmen, mixing experience with new talent.
"The returners are going to have that experience and leadership," Parker said. "It's nice to have this opening event to see how the new girls interact with the returners… I'm excited to see how we come together as a team."
Despite Parker's limited time seeing the team in action in the preseason, he has learned how the team's lineups will come together with the men.
"On the men's side, we were able to quickly figure out our doubles alignments and figure out where we play at as far as our singles lineups are concerned," Parker said. "That went by quickly because of the leadership we have… there's a lot of energy out there."
On the women's side, Parker sees a similar energy and some versatility within the roster.
"There's a lot of energy there as well," Parker said. "The returners are doing a fantastic job helping me out and directing traffic for me… we're going to try different doubles alignments because it's one thing in practice, but when they're competing against other schools, that's when you see the differences in their chemistry."
Going into the first invitational of the season, Parker's message to the team is simple.
"Just play with energy and have some fun," Parker said. "As far as my assistant coach and myself, it's just to get to know them a little bit better… I'm not going to put a whole lot on their plate, I want the experience to be something they will always remember."
The Eagles will kick off the Lincoln Memorial Invitational against Tusculum on Friday morning.
