HARTSVILLE, S.C. — The Carson-Newman women's tennis team (5-8, 3-6 SAC) came out on the wrong end of the scoring column again on Friday as they fell to Coker (9-8, 5-2 SAC) 5-4 at the Coker Tennis Courts.
"There are no words," coach Jean Love said following her team's fifth consecutive South Atlantic Conference loss. "This was just a tough loss."
The Eagles entered the day on an encouraging note as they welcomed back Patricia Guerreiro (Portugal) and Jill Corsato-Owsianka (Germany) into the lineup. Both players were unavailable for last Tuesday's match against Tusculum.
With two of the top win producers back on the courts for the Carson-Newman, the Eagles quickly jumped out to a 2-1 lead after doubles play. Corsato-Owsianka linked back up with Mallory Jackson (Ewrin, Tenn.) to defeat a pair of Cobras 8-5 in No. 1's play. Jennifer Ott (Knoxville, Tenn.) was happy to have Guerreiro back as well, as the duo won the bronze round, 8-4.
Things went south in a hurry for the Eagles as they lost four out of six matches in singles play. Jackson and Corsato-Owsianka led off for Carson-Newman and both lost. Their scores were 6-1, 3-0 and 6-4, 6-7(8-6), 6-4 respectively for the first and second place matches.
Brooke Sanderson (Evans, Ga.) and Haleigh Chastain (Knoxville, Tenn.) also came up short on the day, as they lost 6-4, 6-1 and 6-3, 6-4 in the number five and six matchups.
Ott finally put the Eagles on the board in singles play when she capped off a 6-3, 6-2 victory in match No. 4. Guerreiro followed suit and recorded another win for Carson-Newman, as she nursed herself back to a 6-3, 6-2 win at No. 3. Those, however, were the only two victories the Eagles could generate in singles play on the day.
"We are just not ready to take next step," Love said. "Good effort as usual."
Carson-Newman will look to continue its good effort and push to take the next step as they welcome Reinhardt to Jefferson City on Monday for a 1:30 p.m. match.
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