Eagles overcome Skyhawks behind solid singles
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – After losing to the Sewanee Tigers of Division III on Thursday, Carson-Newman women’s tennis (3-2, 0-0 SAC
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – After losing to the Sewanee Tigers of Division III on Thursday, Carson-Newman women's tennis (3-2, 0-0 SAC) went head-to-head against the Skyhawks of UT-Martin (0-6, 0-0 OVC) Saturday afternoon.
Returning back to the metropolis of Knoxville, the Eagles took home a very pivotal 4-3 result as C-N gathered the early advantage and were able to hold on to take a victory on Saturday.
Saturday also marked the first ever meeting between the Eagles and Skyhawks.
Once the action began from the Cedar Bluff Racquet Club, it was C-N rebounding after dropping the first official match result to take the early 1-0 advantage as they looked to maintain "home-court" advantage.
First, the duo of Ana Carla Resende (Minas Gerais, Brazil) and Summer Reeves (Maidstone, Kent, England) would stumble from number two doubles as they fell to Niedzialowski and Sakurai of UTM by a score of 6-3.
Then, Violetta Khisamova (Yaroslavl, Russia) and Julia Speiser rebounded to help C-N regain some momentum as they took a 6-2 result over Ondo and Espinal of UTM. From there, it all came down to number one doubles as Hannah Price (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Natasha Forrest (Jersey, United Kingdom) faced off with Streif and Albersmeier of UTM.
Price and Forrest would clinch the doubles point for C-N after they took home a 6-3 result and gave the Eagles the 1-0 advantage on the scoreboard.
"Doubles had some significant improvements. The behavior and attitude from everyone was a lot more intense," graduate coach Gabriel Dabdab said.
As singles play started, the Eagles worked to keep the momentum in their favor as they would take victories in number one, five, and six singles.
First, Ana Carla Resende would gather another notch in her career wins as she swept the number one singles match over Streif of UTM. The first set saw Resende take the 6-4 result before coming back even stronger and winning the match with a 6-0 result in the second set.
Then, in number five singles, Summer Reeves took a win over Sakurai. After dropping the first set 6-0, Reeves responded and took home the second set by a score of 6-3. From there, in the decisive third set, Reeves pulled out the second singles victory for C-N with a decision of 6-4 in her favor.
"Highlight to Summer that started slow but was able to focus again, come back and win in the third to clinch the match," Dabdab said.
Finally, in number six singles was Anita Chornei for C-N as she went up against Ondo of the Skyhawks. The match would meet the two-set minimum as Chornei started off with a 7-5 result in the first set before storming back and taking the win with a 6-2 second set decision.
Meanwhile, Violetta Khisamova suffered a setback at number two singles. She would go up against Albersmeier of the Skyhawks. The first set went in favor of C-N, 6-4, but from there it was all UTM as they gained a spot in Saturday's scoreboard. The second set would finish 6-2 while the third set came down to a 6-4 result which was taken by Albersmeier.
In number three singles, Natasha Forrest (Jersey, United Kingdom) saw a clean sweep by her opponent, Espinal. The Skyhawks athlete took the first set 6-3 before almost keeping Forrest off the scoreboard in the second set, 6-1.
The final result for number four singles came between Hannah Price and Aubin of UTM. Price would take the first set cleanly, 6-0, but would fall in the remaining sets as UTM captured another point to make the final 4-3.
In the second set, Aubin defeated Price 6-3 before coming back in the third set and claiming the overall win with a 6-2 decision over the hometown product.
"Overall, great effort. Two more matches before conference will put us in a good place when the most important battles come," Dabdab said. "It feels good to beat a Division I team."
The Eagles now get ready for a doubleheader in a week, as they host the Belmont Abbey Crusaders and Lee Flames next Saturday. C-N and Belmont Abbey hold first serve at 11:00 a.m. before the Eagles and Flames square off 7:00 p.m. Saturday night.
Be sure to keep up with all things Carson-Newman tennis at cneagles.com and on all social media.
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