JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn.—After winning in easy fashion during the season-opening victory over Tennessee Wesleyan, the Eagles are set for their first South Atlantic Conference showdown of the season with a trip over to Newberry, S.C. to take on the Wolves Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m.
The match was originally slated as Carson-Newman's season lid-lifter on Feb. 10, but inclement weather pushed the match to Sunday.
After completing the 2014-2015 season with a 7-10 (4-7 SAC) mark, the Eagles will be looking to improve on the win/loss record this season by taking the second meet of the young season over Newberry on Sunday's matinée.
Carson-Newman (1-0, 0-0 SAC) dominated its way to an 8-1 win over the Bulldogs from Tennessee Wesleyan at home on Thursday. The squad's lone defeat during the match came at the No. 3 doubles slot.
The last time these two conference foes clashed was last season at the Buddy Catlett Tennis Complex in Jefferson City, Tenn. The Eagles endured their fifth loss of the season en route to a 5-4 defeat on March 28th.
This year's squad is led by three experienced seniors in Patricia Guerreiro (Portugal), Haleigh Chastain (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Brooke Sanderson (Evans, Ga.). The trio combined for 27 singles wins and Guerreiro was also tabbed an Honorable Mention from the SAC for her part in doubles play a season ago. Guerreiro and Sanderson each picked up wins in singles and doubles play on Thursday.
Along with the three aforementioned, C-N returns four others from last year's squad and also welcomes freshmen Hannah Ayers (Woodstock, Ga.), Merry Carson (Huntsville, Tenn.),Ali Harris (Crossville, Tenn.) and Gabrielle Wood (Woodstock, Ga.) into the mix this season.
Despite being a true freshman, Harris competed at the top of the order for the Eagles in their first match of the season and will look to keep gaining momentum throughout Sunday's contest.
Newberry (8-1, 3-0 SAC), who was slated fifth by the league in the preseason poll, returns a fairly balanced squad that will line up against the Eagles. Wolves coach Mark Gardiner has three seniors, juniors and sophomores each at his deposal, as well as one freshman in Paula Avellan.
Amanda Carrillo and Vanessa Ortiz are back and were tabbed to the All-SAC doubles preseason team following a 14-8 overall record. Carrillo was also named to the singles squad after completing last season with an 18-3 record. Elizabeth Williamson was another Wolf who accepted a preseason accolade upon finishing her sophomore campaign with a 17-5 record.
"Year in and year out, they have had a pretty balanced team," Love said. "Their strength is probably the depth of their lineup. The top of their lineup is solid and the bottom of their lineup is solid. That's what I have experienced with Newberry in recent years."
To keep up with everything Carson-Newman tennis related, follow us on twitter at @CNathletics. A full recap of the Eagles' first match of the season against Newberry can be found on cneagles.com following the match Wednesday evening.
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