Eagles shutout Bulldogs for first win of the season
ATHENS, Tenn. – After a slow start to the season, The Eagles were able to put themselves on the winning track Tuesday afternoon with a dominating 9-0 thrashing of Tennessee Wesleyan, marking their first win of the 2018 campaign.
ATHENS, Tenn. – After a slow start to the season, The Eagles were able to put themselves on the winning track Tuesday afternoon with a dominating 9-0 thrashing of Tennessee Wesleyan.
The win allows the Eagles to stay undefeated against the Bulldogs since 2013, notching their fifth-straight win in the series.
"Our first two matches of the season were against high levels of competition so we were able to learn a lot about ourselves coming into today," head coach Jean Love said. "We made improvements in our play and were able to be consistent with that play."
Carson-Newman (1-2) jumped out to a steep 3-0 lead by the end of the doubles play. The No. 3 spot started the day as the tandem of Hannah Price (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Mallory Jackson (Erwin, Tenn.) won in an impressive 8-1 showing against Kaitlynn Barlok and Mandy Watters.
The top-seeded duo of Jill Corsato-Owsianka (Düesseldorf, Germany) and Abby Reis (Des Moines, IA.) took an 8-2 win over Haruka Hirata and Natasha Bastos.
The closest Tennessee Wesleyan (0-1) was able to come to a victory on the day was in the second-seeded spot as Giovanna Alves de Moraes and Arianna Pelletti fell to Ali Harris (Crossville, Tenn.) and Alisa Liashova (Ukraine).
Singles play continued to be dominated by the Eagles as Love's squad won all of the matches in straight sets. Five of the six matches saw the opening sets fall in favor of C-N is 6-0 sweeps.
"We constricted our points better in today's match," Love mentioned. "We were better in tactical positions with our points and I was very pleased with that."
The No. 2 singles spot featured a win by Reis over Bastos with a 6-0, 6-2 victory. That match was followed closely behind the No. 1 matchup of Corsato-Owsianka and Hirata. Corsato-Owsianka's 6-0, 6-3 straight-set win marked her 36th career singles victory. She is now four wins away from becoming the first Eagle this decade to garner 40 victories.
Harris took a 6-0, 6-2 win over Pelleti at the three-spot followed by Price's 6-0, 6-1 win over TWU's fourth-seeded Alves de Moraes.
The five and the six spots ended the day as Liashova garnered a 6-0, 6-1 victory against Barlock and Vuckovic snagged a 6-2, 6-1 win over Watters, respectively.
C-N returns to Mossy Creek on Wednesday to host Lee. That match is slated to begin at 1:30 p.m. at the Buddy Catlett Tennis Complex.
