Season Preview: Tennis
Expectations are high for one of the most successful tennis programs in the state!
You'd be hard-pressed to find a tennis program with as much success over the past several seasons as Tallulah Falls for both the girls and boys. The Lady Indians are on a 5-year streak of making the playoffs, adding three straight region titles, a Final 4, Elite 8, and Sweet 16 among all that success. The Indians have thrived since 2022, making the postseason in each campaign, winning two region championships, finishing as State Runner-Up and three other times making the Sweet 16.
All told, the girls have 64 wins since the 2021 season, while the boys have 50 since 2022. The expectations have continued to be raised, and Tallulah Falls has met and exceeded those each time. The boys enter the 2026 season with a near full roster rebuild, while the girls have much of the same veteran group returning.
The Lady Indians went 14-1 a year ago, falling only in the Final 4 after earning a 3-peat as Region Champions. It marked the most successful season in terms of the deepest run (semifinals). Jaeda-Lee Daniel-Joseph, a recent Barton College signee, enters her final season at Tallulah Falls in what has been nothing short of a legendary career.
Daniel-Joseph, the Region Singles Champion in 2025, is coming off a school record 21-win season. Her 51 singles wins is far and away the school's all-time mark, and she has a chance to put that far out of reach. She anchors the lineup, and standout 2-singles player Azaria Junaid also comes back for her senior season. She is second all-time in career wins with 33, and had 15 last season and 14 the year prior.
Joining Daniel-Joseph and Junaid are seniors Ava Carnes (44 combined wins - 36 at doubles), Charlotte Stafford (33 wins - all doubles), and Keira Webb (31 wins - all doubles). Webb teamed up last year with '25 grad Landry Carnes as the Region Doubles Champions. That duo set the school record with 17 wins together. In a word, the Lady Indians are loaded coming into the season.
The Indians will feature an all-new look, as the star senior class that finished as State Runner-Up all graduated - top singles players in history Tanner Davis (56 career wins) and TJ Cox (53 wins), along with the all-time top doubles teams of Zach Carringer and Jake Owensby (48 wins) all moved on.
Returning to anchor the team will be sophomore Reilly Cox, senior Glad Puscasu, and a cast of newcomers and former stars at the middle school level who will get their first crack at varsity action. The boys team set a program record with 16 wins last season, and aim to be one of the top teams in the region once again.
Both teams kick off the season on February 5 at Jackson County. TFS will play a string of six straight home matches ranging from February 10-March 2. Tallulah Falls is coached by Anthony Cox, who has 87 combined wins between the girls and boys against just 14 losses, good for a .861 win percentage.