VIDEO: Natasha Forrest Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The Carson-Newman women's tennis team returns home after a solid performance at the Belmont Abbey Invitational to round out its fall season in the Eagle Invitational at the Buddy A. Catlett Tennis Complex.
For the Eagle Invitational, the Eagles welcome in Bluefield State and Tusculum, facing off against a new foe and a familiar one. Heading into the Eagle Invitational, head coach Jon Parker hopes to get a feel for what the lineup could look like in the spring.
"Things are changing," Parker said. "On the women's side, I'm going to continue to mix it up a bit… Hopefully, at the end of this weekend, I'll have a better feel of things on the women's side."
After facing adversity at the Belmont Abbey Invitational after dropping four of five matches to Mount Olive, the women showed perseverance and fought back to have an impressive outing. Coming out of the event, Parker was pleased with their fight and their ability to bounce back and hopes they continue that in the Eagle Invitational.
"They like to fight," Parker said. "They don't like to lose… Some teams start off poorly and fold at the end, and I always like to preach that it's not how you start, it's how you finish… The women did just that. They got better as the tournament progressed… I saw a lot of good attitudes at the end of the tournament."
Heading into the Eagle Invitational, graduate student Natasha Forrest is ready to play at home after being on the road for most of the fall season.
"It's really exciting," Forrest said. "Everyone knows the bars about playing at home… It'll be exciting, especially for the freshmen that have yet to play at home, so it'll be a good weekend."
Despite a lack of familiarity with Bluefield State, Forrest is excited for the dual with a familiar foe in the Tusculum Pioneers.
"It has been quite important for us to get these matches under our belt," Forrest said. "We've played Tusculum before this fall, so it'll be good to play them again. I know we're ready to take them on, especially already knowing some of their strengths and weaknesses… It will be a good matchup."
Going into the final event of the fall season, Forrest has been impressed with the team's growth throughout the fall.
"The team dynamic is much different," Forrest said. "We have all made an effort to be much closer, and we've all been pushing each other at practice, which has really helped us."
Forrest and the Eagles take the court at Buddy A. Catlett Tennis Complex at 9 AM on Friday to kick off the Eagle Invitational.
