Trip to the Peach State up next for Eagles
YOUNG HARRIS, Ga.– Carson-Newman women’s tennis will be back in action this weekend from the confines of the Bob & Gayle Nichols Tennis Complex in Young Harris, Georgia
YOUNG HARRIS, Ga.– Carson-Newman women's tennis will be back in action this weekend from the confines of the Bob & Gayle Nichols Tennis Complex in Young Harris, Georgia. After completing a successful trip to Sumter, the Eagles now turn their attention to the YHC Hidden Dual Team Championships on Oct. 9 and 10.
Senior Ana Carla Resende (Minas Gerais, Brazil) led the way for the Eagles in Sumter at the ITA Southeast Regional Qualifiers a couple weekends ago. The Brazil native made it all the way to the women's singles finals as she would go up against 1st-seeded Luisa Hrda in the finals. Heading into the match, both Hrda and Resende had yet to drop an entire set during their tournament run. Both girls fought for every point as Resende would face a 4-0 deficit in the first set. Despite being down early, Resende battled back in the match, but would fall in the first set 6-3.
Ana Carla would continue her fighting spirit into the second set as she would go down 4-0 once more. Resende dug deep after seeing a 5-2 deficit and Hrda holding a pair of match points. However, Resende stopped any early celebration as she came all the way back to take a 6-5 lead and get close to forcing a decisive third set. However, Hrda found her second wind and came back to win the second set and overall singles title with a 7-6 (3) second set victory.
With her second-place finish overall, this marks the highest individual finish for Resende at the event after competing in consolation bracket action when she last appeared for C-N at the ITAs in 2019.
Carson-Newman also saw junior Natasha Forrest (Jersey, United Kingdom) and graduate student Hannah Price (Knoxville, Tenn.) make it all the way to Sunday action. Forrest worked her way into the round of 16 for the women's consolation bracket after winning two straight on the second day. Forrest would not actually compete in the round of 16 as the ITA decided to stop consolation bracket at that point.
For Hannah Price, she came into the ITAs as one of the 16th-seeded singles players. After dropping her first match of the tournament, she came back and won two straight as well on Saturday, placing her with a spot in the consolation bracket round of 16. She, like Forrest, would not see action continue after the ITA halted that part of the tournament.
The other Eagles in action from Sumter included sophomore Violetta Khisamova (Yaroslavl, Russia) who made it to the women's round of 64 before dropping the result. Sophomore Julia Speiser saw action in the consolation bracket during her time in Sumter as she would win her first match of the second day from Sumter before dropping the ensuing contest.
The last Eagle in singles competition was sophomore Summer Reeves (Maidstone, Kent, England). After seeing a spot in the consolation bracket after Friday's results, Reeves went head-to-head against Paulina Loretz early Saturday night. Loretz claimed the 3-6, 6-4 [10-6] decision to end Reeves's time in singles for the ITAs and claim herself a spot against Angelina Linnikova in the next round.
The Eagles also saw a trio of doubles pairings in action, none more prominent than the pairing of Natasha Forrest and Hannah Price. After bypassing the first round, Forrest and Price made it all the way to the women's doubles quarterfinals as they would see Chaumon and Spice end their time in Sumter.
Carson-Newman women's tennis will be in action Saturday and Sunday starting at 9 a.m. from Young Harris, Georgia as the YHC Hidden Dual Team Championships take place.
Be sure to keep up with Carson-Newman women's tennis all across the Eagles' social media platforms.
