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UTM senior Tiley marches toward final college match

UTM senior Tiley marches toward final college match

Posted: Friday, April 20, 2012 12:00 pm

For many college seniors at UT Martin, senioritis has set in. Not for tennis player Jodie Tiley, though.
The Cambridge, England, native has a full class load in sports management, a horrendous tennis schedule, and in her spare time she is making plans for her future.
Tiley, the adidas Ohio Valley Conference Female Tennis Athlete of the Week, will graduate May 5 and then go back to England, where she wants to join the British Army, the land warfare branch of Her Majesty’s Armed Forces in the United Kingdom.
Currently, the British Army is deployed in Kosovo, Cyprus, Germany, Afghanistan and many other places.
Tiley’s plans include the officers’ school program. Ideally, she wants to be the person training the Regular Army and making sure the soldiers are physically fit to serve.
This do-it-all tennis player who can play a finesse game or unleash an ominous power game on her opponent is certainly qualified to be a “drill sergeant.”
Tiley’s tennis resume includes an 83-58 career record in singles; and a 45-27 career record in doubles. In Ohio Valley Conference play she is 22-9 in singles and 24-8 in doubles.
She earned All-OVC first-team accolades in 2011 and is on her way to the same honors this season. She also was named the OVC Freshman of the Year in 2009.
Along with her physical attributes, Tiley serves as the tennis team’s co-captain and is a member of the Student Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC).
“Jodie embodies the idea of being a teammate,” UT Martin assistant athletics director Danelle Fabianich said. “She’s there to encourage, lend a hand and has been a friend to all that know her.”
Don’t call Tiley a slacker because she completed the requirements for her degree in three-and-a-half years and has a 3.4 grade point average.
Tiley was recognized and presented with her senior plaque before Tuesday’s non-conference match against Southern Illinois.
It’s safe to say, Tiley doesn’t even know what senioritis means. Published in The WCP 4.19.12