Charlotte, N.C.—The Carson-Newman women's tennis team was shutout for the first time since March 31 of last season en route to its fifth loss of the season as Queens (N.C.) swept Carson-Newman 9-0 Saturday afternoon at the Queens Tennis Complex.
The Eagles' (13-5, 5-5 SAC) last blunder on the year came in a league contest at Lincoln Memorial on March 30. Coming into the contest, Carson-Newman had won six of its last seven matches and were playing superb tennis heading into the final stretch of the regular season.
Saturday's action proved to be a different story as the offensive proficient Eagles were kept off the scoreboard for the first time this season thanks to the Royals (10-2, 8-1 SAC) high-attacking pace.
"Our opponents were too good today, but with that said, we competed well," coach Jean Love said following the match. "Four of our singles matches involved tiebreakers. We were a bit sluggish in doubles today and that certainly didn't help our case."
Queens' doubles pairings began the impress day for the Royals by taking all three matches in the round.
Jill Corsato-Owsianka (Duesseldorf, Germany) and Patricia Guerreiro (Fernao-Ferro, Portugal) were sat down 8-0 in the opening match. Freshman Ali Harris (Crossville, Tenn.) and senior Brooke Sanderson (Evans, Ga.) were then retired 8-2 in the second-seeded contest and Gabrielle Wood (Woodstock, Ga.) and Mallory Jackson (Erwin, Tenn.) fell 8-4 at No. 3.
The Royals would keep the food on the pedal upon entering the singles round of action.
Carson-Newman's No. 1 player Harris began the round with a 7-6, 3-6 and 6-0 loss before giving way to Guerreiro who also lost a tiebreaking set at No. 2, 7-6, 7-3.
Corsato-Owsianka would then lose the third match 6-2, 7-6 to Melissa Laing that snapped a 14-match winning streak for the junior. The loss was only the second of the season in singles play for Carsato-Owsianka and the Germany native now sports a still-impressive 15-2 record.
With the match already being decided, Sanderson continued to battle in the fifth spot but ultimately lost another tiebreaker 9-8.
Jackson would then be held up by Caroline Nielsen in the fourth-seeded contest to lose 8-6 and Wood would end the day for the Eagles with an 8-5 loss at No. 6.
Carson-Newman will hit the courts again with an all-importance final SAC showdown with arch-rival Tusculum on April 12. The match will also serve as senior day for Guerreiro, Sanderson and Haleigh Chastain (Knoxville, Tenn.)
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