JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn.—The Eagles picked up their first win of the season in impressive fashion over Tennessee Wesleyan 8-1 as Carson-Newman took part in its first match of the season Thursday afternoon in Mossy Creek.
"It felt good to get back out there today because we definitely didn't need to play ourselves anymore in practice," coach Jean Love said following the win. "We needed to play against that outside competition where we wouldn't know what our challenges would be. It was just great to see the sun again."
C-N (1-0) started out the day by taking two of three sets in doubles play. Freshman Ali Harris (Crossville, Tenn.) teamed up with senior Patricia Guerreiro (Portugal) to shutout the Bulldog's (4-2) No.1 pairing with an 8-0 win.
Jill Corsato-Owsianka (Germany) and Brooke Sanderson (Evans, Ga.) then teamed up in the second-seeded set to win 8-4.
Carson-Newman's only loss on the day came in the third and final doubles match. Freshman Gabrielle Wood (Woodstock, Ga.) and sophomore Sydney Ledington (Corbin, Ky.) joined efforts for six points in the game, but ultimately fell 8-6 in the set.
"Our doubles combination was not bad today," Love said. "We have some things we need to work on, but again, not a bad day."
The Eagles started singles play for the 2016 season with perfect form. Every player who took part in a singles match came up with a win for Carson-Newman.
"We played some pretty good singles today," Love said. "Patricia Guerreiro between doubles and singles didn't lose a game, so that stands out, obviously. She is a senior and a very solid player."
Harris kicked things off for the Eagles with a 6-2, 6-0 route in the leadoff spot and was then followed with a 6-1, 6-0 win at No. 2 by Guerreiro. Corsato-Owsianka then came in at No.3 with the 6-2, 6-3 victory for the Eagles.
After dropping game one 0-6, Sanderson rallied back to win the tiebreaking points 6-1, 10-6 to pick up the win at No.4. Wood then captured her first career singles victory 6-3, 6-4 in the fifth-seeded game.
"Brooke [Sanderson] got a slow start, but really came back strong and that was good to see," Love said.
Carson-Newman finished off the opening day win with a 6-0, 6-2 victory in the final singles game of the contest by Ledington.
The Eagles will take a couple of days off before returning to action on Sunday to take on Newberry at 2 p.m. in South Carolina. The contest is a make-up date for the two programs after rained interfered with the original date on Feb. 10th.
To keep up with everything Carson-Newman tennis related, stay up to beat at cneagles.com.
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