Top-to-bottom strong play hands C-N ranked win over #34 Anderson
The Eagles took care of the doubles point before strong singles play elevated the Eagles to a 4-1 decision.
VIDEO: Nate Gangelhoff Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The Eagles took care of the doubles point before strong singles play elevated the Eagles to a 4-1 decision.
This was Carson-Newman's third win in a row after falling in six straight midway through the year. Now, the Eagles have collected all three of their SAC wins in the last week. They handed the Trojans just their fourth loss of the season.
"It comes from the hard work that we have put in. It comes from maybe the hard times that were in February and a little bit of the beginning of March," said Nate Gangelhoff. "We now know how good we are and I think we can also even be better…It's all excitement and joy right now."
It began with a dominant doubles performance from the Eagles. Kira Baacke and Maria del Mar Sarda Marti took care of business at second doubles with a 6-1 score. They are now 4-4 as a pair this season. Hala Awad and Abinaya Sweeton also leveled their doubles record to .500 as a duo. With a 6-3 victory, they are 2-2 this season. Leah McBride and Mar Fraile played third doubles together and were up 5-4 before the point was clinched.
"We were very focused from the beginning so we just kept going and doing our thing and we just got confidence also from the past matches so it was good," said Awad.
In singles, Hala Awad cruised through a match against Alexandria Braithwaite, who had beaten #9 Wingate's number one just the match prior. Awad took the victory with set scores of 6-3, 6-1 and was the first Eagle to wrap in singles. Her record as an individual is now a stunning 7-1.
"I mean, I'm a senior, I'm just trying to enjoy it until the last minute, so I'm just trying to do my best and make the team have one more win every time," said Awad.
Gangelhoff shared the sentiment.
"She's a senior and it's not just a senior who has barely played tennis. She's played a lot of college tennis and she knows what it takes," said Gangelhoff. "She trusts her game. I trust her game. She always has the green light for me."
With the match at 2-0, there were two courts ready to close. Leah McBride at 5th singles was first. The junior defeated Mara Opre 6-2, 6-3 to move her singles record to 3-5. She has won her last two singles matches.
Maria del Mar Sarda Marti got to close things out for C-N. The senior breezed to a 6-0, 6-3 victory with the team watching on. Sarda is now 4-4 in singles play this season.
"We have a lot of experience in our singles, which is, you know, what you always love to have. The girls who you can kind of count on," said Gangelhoff.
Kerrigan Spiers at second singles and Abinaya Sweeton at sixth singles were the two unfinished lines. Spiers was down 7-5, 1-0 while Sweeton was losing 6-2, 5-4
Sindija Manovska was the lone point given up at fourth singles with a 6-1, 6-2 score.
With this win, the Eagles are now 6-7 on the year and 3-3 in SAC play. They have won the last three matches between the teams and are now 7-10 all-time against the Trojans.
Now, C-N will set their sights on #9 Wingate, who makes the trip to Jefferson City on Saturday to battle a red-hot Eagles team.
"We're going to have a really tough battle and we know that Wingate is always a really good opponent," said Gangelhoff. "But I hope after a win like this, after a ranked win like this, it gives us a lot of confidence how we could play against these better players and against these better teams."
First serve against the Bulldogs is scheduled for 2:00 PM at the Buddy Catlett Tennis Complex. For updates, follow @CN_Eagles on X and Instagram, or check cneagles.com for full coverage.
