Eagles looking to finish top-four in conference
The Carson-Newman women’s tennis team will face-off against one of its final two South Atlantic Conference opponents this weekend against Mars Hill on Saturday afternoon.
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The Carson-Newman women's tennis team will face-off against one of its final two South Atlantic Conference opponents this weekend against Mars Hill on Saturday afternoon.
Carson-Newman (7-7, 6-3) has a chance to finish in the top-four in the SAC standings for the first time since the 2009-2010 tennis season. Mars Hill (5-11, 1-9) is will finish with a losing record in conference play for the third consecutive year.
The Eagles are coming off of a 9-0 shutout victory over Brevard on April 1. During the shutout the Eagles never dropped a set and only gave up a total of five games on the whole day. Queens is currently riding a three match winning streak with victories over Catawba, Tusculum and Lincoln Memorial.
Preseason all-conference selections Ali Harris (Crossville, Tenn.) and Jill Corsato-Owsianka (Germany) have started to rack up the victories for the Eagles. Harris will try to keep things rolling at the No. 1 singles position. The sophomore is 5-9 on the year and 4-5 in conference play this season. Corsato-Owsianka is currently riding a four-match win streak and is 5-1 since moving down to the No. 3 singles position.
Sydney Ledington (Corbin, Ky.) is the only other Eagle that returned with playing time this season. The junior is 6-8 on the year at No. 6 singles and is on a two-match winning streak.
Alisa Liashova (Ukraine), Klara Vuckovic (Germany) and Lindy Tatum (Henderson, Tenn.) make up the youth of the team. The freshmen have combined for 20 of the teams 39 matches won. Since moving up to the No. 2 singles position Liashova is just 2-4, but still has an overall record of 6-8.
Vuckovic has stayed steady throughout the year with a 7-7 overall record and a 6-3 conference mark. Tatum is 7-9 overall on the year and 5-4 within conference play at the No. 5 singles position.
In doubles play the all-freshmen tandem of Liashova and Vuckovic are riding a six-match winning streak. The duo have compiled an overall record of 10-2 and a conference record of 8-1 at the No. 2 doubles position.
The No. 1 doubles pairing of Corsato-Owsianka and Harris have played consistent throughout the season with a 6-6 overall record. The final doubles pairing of Ledington and Tatum are 3-9 on the season.
The Lions have two players, Jasha Geerdink and Jade Henke tied with a team high eight wins. Geerdink is 8-7 at the No. 1 singles position, while Henke is 8-8 primarily playing at the No. 4 singles spot.
A pair of players have spent time at the No. 2 singles position for the Lions this season. Dante Hart went 1-6 at the No.2 singles spot, but Hart eventually moved down into the No. 3 slot. Current No. 2 singles player Evan Lake is 2-6 at the position, but is only 4-8 on the year.
Sophia Pelaez is 5-6 at the No. 5 singles position. Hannah Hill and Dani Potts round out singles action with a combined record of 5-16.
In doubles play the Lions have struggled throughout the season in finding a combination that works. Their most consistent duo is Henke and Lake who are 4-4 at the No. 2 spot. The No. 1 duo of Geerdink and Hart are 3-8, while the No. 3 doubles team of Hill and Pelaez are 1-10 on the year.
The match is scheduled for a 1 p.m. first serve.
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