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Tennis team hires new head coach

Elijah Harvey
Feb 4, 2021

Chiara Carnelutti, sophomore tennis player, fights to hit tennis ball. After going last semester without a coach, the team finally
found one for the new semester. 
Photo courtesy of NSU Athletics

After months of what seemed like an uphill battle trying to find the next head coach, the tennis team has
finally found its sigh of relief. The recent hire of Timothy McLane, new head coach, has pushed the tennis
to a more promising future. With only half his team currently at NSU due to COVID-19 traveling
restrictions, McLane is still hopeful to have a successful spring season.  

“I definitely think we’ll have a chip on our shoulder with only half a team,” said McLane.
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Preparations are a huge factor in sports and McLane shifted gears for this season. 

“Our focus as a team is to continue to stay healthy and practice hard as we prepare for our first set of
matches,” Said McLane. 

After the news broke that NSU hired a new tennis head coach, Irene Romero, Junior tennis player, felt as
though things would be better. 

“Things have been better, like it’s good to have an actual reactive schedule and weights; we are more
motivated now because we are having a season,” said Romero. 

Although they had a set schedule, the team still faced the problem of not having all of its active members
due to COVID-19 international travel restrictions. 

“One of our teammates is supposed to come this month so hopefully she can get here. The others aren’t
expected to return this semester but at least we have at six, which is better than last semester,” said
Romero. 

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Depth plays a major role in all sports and having six players back for the season was the win the team
needed. 

“When it comes to matches, we need a minimum of six players, so we have to be really careful and not get
injured,” said Romero. 

Being able to stay safe from COVID-19 has been a top priority for the tennis team, Chiara Carnelutti,
sophomore tennis player, said she feels safe from COVID-19.

“As a team we hold each other accountable and we are extremely responsible of staying healthy and
avoiding going to college parties or coming in contact with people we don’t know,” said Carnelutti. 

This past tennis season has been an adjustment for all but McLane is proud of the work that the team has
done this season.

"This season has been a little unique, to say the least, especially with me starting in January, but I think
our team has done a great job dealing with the ups and downs of everything that we've had to work
around this year," said McLane. "They did a really nice job of being open-minded, flexible and paying
attention to a lot of different concepts and strategic training that I threw at them. All in all, I would say it's

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been a productive season, in that we've been able to put in the foundation of a new system, everyone
knows what the expectations and standards are in this program moving forward, and with seven
returners coming back next year, we'll have an experienced team who has battled through adversity this
season."

For more information email McLane at mclanet@nsuok.edu.

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