Commitment Profile
Countdown: Jacqueline Carr Commits to the Herd
by Sonny Dearth, 8 April 2015
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Much of America learned about Huntington, W.Va., and its most prominent university via the movie We Are Marshall.
Jacqueline "Jackie" Carr has decided to experience it fully.
Carr, a Five-Star recruit from Rogers, Ark., committed to the Thundering Herd on Nov. 17. Head coach John Mercer and assistant Kellie Schmitt direct a diverse team with just one senior. The eight players are from four European countries, Toronto and three U.S. states.
Carr said she had eyes on several universities last summer, including scenic Pepperdine in Malibu, Calif.
"I was really high on it, but they switched head coaches," she said.
Arkansas and Auburn also were on her list, but Schmitt emailed her and Carr responded. Mercer than arranged an official visit, and it turned out to be the only one Carr chose to take.
"When I went to Marshall, I fell in love with the girls and John and Kellie," Carr said.
"It was like one family, which is something that I was looking for. The girls were all together. I thought John would make me better, and that's something I was looking for."
This season, Marshall won seven of its first 10 matches and held the No. 55 Intercollegiate Tennis Association ranking as of Feb. 22, the season's first computerized list. The gang of green has become the highest-positioned team in far-flung Conference USA, just ahead of No. 58 Rice, and Old Dominion and others could join the Herd and Owls in a chase for NCAA tournament berths.
"I know they've done really well this season so far," Carr said of the current Herd.
