SEASON PREVIEW: Youthful Eagles Look Forward To Sun Belt Challenge
1/16/2026 4:00:00 PM | Women's Tennis
Six returnees, one newcomer look to help Georgia Southern make noise this season
STATESBORO - Georgia Southern women's tennis had one of the youngest teams in the nation in 2025, and the ups and downs of that season were evident as the Eagles enjoyed a third straight season of being nationally ranked, but eventually missed out on qualifying for the Sun Belt Conference tournament.
Fast forward to 2026, however, and the Eagles are determined to put together a season filled with more highs than lows. Head coach Sean McCaffrey is encouraged with the team's progress and knows that the sky is the limit for this squad.
"I think this group has started to really find a way to accept ownership of their own individual games and development," Coach McCaffrey said. "Last year we watched as everyone did a good job of learning how to fight through matches and how to compete at a high level. Now I believe the team is a lot more focused on the smaller details that it takes to be successful. Both on and off the court. On the court the team is stronger mentally, and far more focused on their personal tennis development. This is a bit different from last year as now they truly feel as if they have ownership of their own development, win or lose, as well as this feeling as though they truly have skin in the game. This is their program and they know that their efforts will help this team, and future teams when it comes to continuing on with building the championship culture that we have created. My goal is that we keep that level of "ownership" in their program as a consistent focus in the coming months."
McCaffrey himself is on the cusp of history as the ninth-year head coach sits just seven wins shy of the all-time wins record among Georgia Southern women's tennis head coaches, the legendary Dr. George Shriver, who won 123 matches from 1975-83 and 1984-86.
To prepare for the season, the team took a training trip to Puerto Rico earlier this month, hosted by former Georgia Southern women's tennis alumnus Leila Castro, who played for the Eagles in the 1990s.
"We had a fantastic time," Coach McCaffrey said. "A huge thank you to Leila and husband, Andres, for hosting the team in Puerto Rico for the week. Of course we had an opportunity to experience some amazing excursions and time in the rain forest, the beach, and various other on-island activities, and the tennis was really good. Being able to practice and train twice a day in the sun definitely prepared the team as we head into our first week of competition. However our goal was to come together as a team and improve our mental performance. Our sport psychology/mental performance coach, Brian Murray, did a wonderful job of preparing activities and initiatives that would help the women with their focus, and their overall mental strength. For me that was just as important as hitting a bunch of tennis balls. And I believe the team did a great job of being mindful and deliberate in their own personal mental performance development as well."
The makeup of the Eagles is very similar to last season's squad that finished with an 11-10 overall record. The team features only two upperclassmen - senior Nanaka Kijima (Chiba, Japan) and junior Mackenzie Leopold (Watkinsville, Ga.). Combined, the pair have played in 182 singles and doubles matches as Eagles and provide a wealth of experience for the younger players to draw upon this season.
The rest of the squad is made up of four returning sophomores and one sophomore transfer. The Eagles' pair of German standouts, Franzi Heinemann (Bad Driburg, Germany) and Evelyn Warkentin (Aschendorf, Germany) combined for 18 singles wins and 23 doubles wins during their freshman season, while Lisen Rinman (Stockholm, Sweden) and Amelie Rosadoro (Alicante, Spain) also had solid debut campaigns. Add to that mix sophomore Angelina Mihajkovic (Krusevac, Serbia), who combined for 15 singles and doubles wins in her freshman campaign at Grand Canyon.
The Eagles play another challenging Spring schedule in 2026 - affected more by the Sun Belt Conference's decision to eliminate a standard conference regular season schedule. Instead, all 14 teams will advance to the tournament and seeding will be done by ITA ranking, making the choice of schedule even more important for Coach McCaffrey.
"Well, it was no surprise that I was not pleased that we lost out on being able to play an entire conference schedule this year," Coach McCaffrey said. "I know my administration with [Athletics Director] Chris Davis and [Deputy Athletics Director] Brandy Clouse fought for having the full schedule, however it just didn't work out. All we can do from there is adjust and overcome. We have always found some extremely competitive matches from all of our conference opponents. For us not much has changed truly. Once we learned that the conference was going to do away with the regular season I immediately set out to re-create as much of the SBC schedule that I could. I believe we play more conference opponents than any of our other SBC member institutions. We scheduled ten conference opponents as 'out of conference' as we truly believe that we need to see these teams, as well as a handful of other strong regional teams, in order to prepare for the SBC tournament in April."
The schedule begins on January 14 and 15 with matches against Florida Atlantic and North Florida in Jacksonville. The Eagles will play perennial strong programs College of Charleston and Stetson early, while also making a trip to play Mississippi State in Starkville, Miss. Combined that with being able to see 10 of the other 13 Sun Belt teams during the regular season should prepare Georgia Southern for a strong surge to the postseason.
Talking about his goals for the year, Coach McCaffrey says, "the one thing I would like to see is that we do our best to stay as healthy as possible throughout the season. Certainly that is not entirely within our control, and our sports medicine staff is second to none, but the team will need to take ownership of their rest, recovery and preparation throughout the season. I know that this team can compete for a conference championship and play on that final Sunday of the season. I am certain the team feels this way as well. If we can rest, recover, be intentional with how we spend our off time, and how we prepare for our matches, the sky's the limit. We won't focus on the wins and losses to judge how the season is going. That stuff will work itself out in time. I am hoping for the team to believe in themselves as much as our entire staff does. If they commit to being brave and show what Eagle Tennis is all about, the grit, the relentlessness, the resiliency, I am certain we will have a very successful season."
Players Mentioned
