Women’s Tennis’ season ends in conference quarterfinals
As the 8th seed, the Eagles were tasked with taking on the first-seeded #6 Catawba. They fell 4-0 in the SAC Quarterfinals.
VIDEO: Nate Gangelhoff Interview
SUMTER, S.C. – As the 8th seed, the Eagles were tasked with taking on the first-seeded #6 Catawba. They fell 4-0 in the SAC Quarterfinals.
"Our girls stuck with each other. They kept encouraging each other," said head coach Nate Gangelhoff. "You feel that support, that very loud vocal energy. You don't get that anywhere else in the world of tennis."
The temperatures were reaching toward the low 90's in the Palmetto State with the sun fully out. With these being the hottest conditions C-N had faced all season, it made it challenging for both teams to fight through the heat on court.
In doubles, the one's and three's pair lost their matches to give Catawba the doubles point. Abinaya Sweeton and Hala Awad lost 6-2 at first doubles to the #7 pair in the nation from Catawba. Leah McBride and Mar Fraile took one more game at the three's line, but dropped the match 6-3. Kira Baacke and Maria del Mar Sarda Marti's match at second doubles was left unfinished. The Eagles were down just 5-4 to the #42 doubles pair in the nation.
It was a different look lineup for both teams, with Catawba having to pull their number one singles player, Sophia Antolini, and C-N's regular second singles woman down with illness.
In singles, Sindija Manovska played five and lost her match to Rin Igarashi who has only lost one match in singles all season. Her final score was 6-1, 6-1.
Kira Baacke played third singles and fell 6-2, 6-1, while Leah McBride was not far behind, falling by the same score.
At first singles, Hala Awad was down after a 6-3 first set against the #67 Player in the country Hanna Bougouffa. The two were tied 2-2 in the second set when the match ended. At second singles, Maria del Mar Sarda Marti had lost the first set 6-1 and was down 2-1 in the second when Catawba clinched.
This was both seniors' final match of their careers. Awad had a great season in singles, at 12-1 and 8-0 in conference play. In her two seasons with the Eagles, Awad has gone 21-4 across her matches. She is the owner of Carson-Newman Women's Tennis's highest career singles record, having won 84% of her singles matches.
"I couldn't be more more thankful of them. Both of them were here last year with me when I started last spring, Hala and Mar. And they were always girls that I could definitely rely on to bring the good team mentality and energy, especially in singles," said Gangelhoff. "They're both extremely talented, and I'm just so thankful for what they brought to our program."
Maria del Mar Sarda Marti wraps up her season at 7-6 in singles play and 4-4 in conference. In the past two years, she has amassed a 23-7 record for the Eagles. With a 16-1 season last year, she holds third place in C-N history for best singles record in a season.
At the sixth line, Mar Fraile was down after losing set one 6-2 and was down 5-2 in the second when Catawba closed.
"We're going to return a lot of girls who had this amazing experience who can learn from this. Hopefully, it adds a little fuel to their fire for their summer training and when we come back in the fall hopefully it adds a little bit extra motivation to train harder to stay extra in the gym to do those extra sprints to hit those extra serves so that they feel the most confident about their game and their ability you know next April when we're here again," said Gangelhoff.
The Eagles end the season with a 9-12 record and a 5-6 record in SAC play. They are now 9-8 in all-time matches against Catawba.
