South Atlantic Conference Release

Video: Simon Duffy Interview

ROCK HILL, S.C. – For the fifth straight year, Carson-Newman has been tabbed one of the top three preseason favorites in the South Atlantic Conference voted on by the coaches and announced by the league on Wednesday.

Over the last three years, three teams (C-N, Wingate, and Lenoir-Rhyne) have shown their case for consistently being one of the top-five preseason favorites. In this year of unpredictability, Wingate earned the top spot with seven first-place votes and 127 points while Lenoir-Rhyne earned five first-place votes, 124 points, and hold the second-place preseason position. This year, C-N (96 points) was not able to garner first-place votes but came in at third above Catawba (90 points) and Lincoln Memorial/Limestone (71 points) who round out the top-five, respectively.

"Rightly so, we definitely underachieved in our standards and expectations with the players available. We use this as fuel as the season starts, and it's up to us to set the record soon," Carson-Newman coach Simon Duffy said. "It's up to us to go out and play as we know whenever we can."

Over the last four years, the Lady Eagles have finished in the top three of the preseason poll, with this year being its first non-top five finish since 2015 when the Eagles was projected to finish ninth in the SAC. The Eagles came in at a respectable second-place in the 2019 preseason poll while holding the first-place position prior to the 2016-17, 2017-18, and 2018-19 season. Prior to the 2016-17 season the program's highest preseason finish was fifth prior to the 2014-15 season.

This is a fact the team does not take lightly and will be focusing on in preparation for the season-opener against Anderson on Feb. 11.

"The freshman have had a long time of getting used to our team atmosphere of how we like to play. We've haven't been able to have team bonding due to current times, but they're ready to play someone else," Duffy said. "Our players have a chip on their shoulders to play. Training and preparation has been steady so we're going to be ready to go."

The last time the Eagles saw action, they were up against SAC foe, Queens, losing by a mere 2-1 score in the SAC Quarterfinals to end their season, respectively.

After an elite junior season, Emilee Futrell is back once again for the Eagles hoping to continue her legacy in Mossy Creek. Last season, Futrell was the team's leading scorer (9) while also providing a team-leading three game-winners to help the Eagles finish third in the SAC. Futrell was able to garner second-team All-SAC honors as well to wrap up her 2019 campaign.

Fellow 2019 second-team All-SAC Jente Kuper returns for her junior year earning preseason All-SAC laurels for the second straight season. Kuper played in all 16 games for the Eagles in 2019-20, compiling a stat line of one goal, one assist, and a mounting four shots on goal.

"All three preseason All-SAC selections are leaders on and off the field. A lot of the players look up to the standards they set for the team," Duffy said. "The team is very anxious to get out and compete. They go out and challenge each other while buying into what we hope to achieve as a program."

The seasons is slated to start on Feb. 11 against Anderson for a 5 p.m. kick-off. All of the games this season can shown/streamed online via cneagles.com/live.

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