Eagles fight through struggles at ITA Southeast Regionals
The Carson-Newman women’s tennis team won two matches but lost four during two days of competition at the International Tennis Association Southeast Regional qualifiers in Sumter, South Carolina.
SUMTER, S.C. – The Carson-Newman women's tennis team won two matches but lost four during two days of competition at the International Tennis Association Southeast Regional qualifiers in Sumter, South Carolina on Friday and Saturday.
Freshman Ana Carla Resende (Minas Gerais, Brazil) came into the tournament with high hopes as the 11th-ranked player in the region but lost to Agostina Bigotta 1-6, 6-2, 6-1.
The match took place in the round of 64 after Resende received a bye in the opening round because she was the third seed in the tournament.
"It probably didn't hurt her confidence but she was very disappointed she lost last night," Carson-Newman coach Jim Frederick said. "She keeps so many balls in the court. The biggest thing for her is that she needs to learn to play a little bit more offense. Her neutral game is outstanding and her defense game is outstanding.
Resende then went on to defeat Paloma Martinez 6-2, 6-0 and Elisa Lang 6-1, 6-0 in the consolation round.
"She was the better player," Frederick said. "She was the third seed in the consolations so she was playing unranked players so she was by far the better player."
Junior Hannah Price (Knoxville, Tenn.) lost her opening match in the round of 128 to Merye Gobernate 6-4, 7-5.
Price had her momentum cooled a bit in this event after defeating the 58th-ranked player in the nation, Wingate's Elena Bompiere, in Carson-Newman's season-debut at the Wingate Invitational.
"In that match, she stayed with a game plan," Frederick said. "Here she was switching back and forth between game plans."
Price then lost to Wingate's Chyi Lee, the 16th-seeded player in the tournament, 6-1, 6-1 in the consolation round.
"The first match she should've won, the second match she could've won," Frederick said.
Alisa Liashova (Ukraine) also participated in the event but only in doubles play. She teamed up with Resende in the round of 64 and the duo won their first match 6-1 but lost in the round of 32 by a score of 6-2.
"Lisas got a lot of power and Ana Carla's got the steadiness and it was kind of just a combination between the two," Frederick said. "We played someone we should've beaten and we did. We played someone we're better than and we didn't give them a chance to beat us."
The Eagles will next play at the University of the Cumberlands Tournament in Williamsburg, Kentucky on Saturday, Oct. 5.
Be sure to keep up with the C-N women's tennis team all season long across Carson-Newman's social media platforms and on cneagles.com
