WINGATE, N.C. — The Carson-Newman women's tennis team (5-4, 3-2 SAC) fell 8-1 to conference-leading Wingate (8-3, 6-0 SAC) Saturday to wrap up a busy week of play that featured five matches in seven days.

The victory for the Bulldogs continues their undefeated stretch through divisional play and continued a South Atlantic Conference winning-streak to 33 matches.

"Wingate was just a better team today," coach Jean Love said after falling to the number one team in the conference.

For the first time this season, the Eagles were held winless in doubles play. Carson-Newman's number-two doubles team, comprised of Mallory Jackson (Erwin, Tenn.) and Jill Corsato-Owsianka (Germany), were the only Eagles to record points as they fell 8-3 to their Wingate counterparts. This also means that the undefeated streak for number-three players Jennifer Ott (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Patricia Guerreiro (Portugal) was halt at seven as they lost in an 8-0 decision. 

Things didn't get any easier as singles play began as Guerrreiro was the lone Eagle to win a singles match. She won at number-two competition 6-4, 6-1 to record the only overall point in the match for Carson-Newman.

An injury sustained to Corsato-Owsianka caused a number of Eagle players to bump up in order to replace her. This opened the door for freshman Catherine Cook (Morristown, Tenn.) to get her first action of the year. She competed in number-six singles and lost 8-0.

Jackson, Sydney Ledington (Corbin, Ky.), Brooke Sanderson (Evans, Ga.) and Ott all lost in convincing fashion, as no game reached the third set.

 "This week has been a tough challenge but overall the positives have outweighed the negatives," Love stated. "It's all about the process of competing in a consistent manner and if we do that, we give ourselves a chance to win."

Carson-Newman will return to the courts Thursday as they travel to Tennessee Wesleyan for a 2 p.m. start time. 

-CN-