VIDEO: Jean Love Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Opening the season with a heartbreaking 5-4 loss to Young Harris on Tuesday, the Carson-Newman women's tennis team looks to bounce back on Tuesday as the Eagles take to the road to face Tennessee Wesleyan at 1:30 p.m. in Athens, Tenn.
The Eagles (0-1) were only able to snag one doubles victory in the match coming in at the No. 2 position as Jill Corsato-Owsianka (Germany) and Abby Reis (Des Moines, IA.) took an 8-3 advantage over Elin Rundcrantz and Beth Taylor.
In singles play, C-N was able to keep the match within reach, holding a 4-4 tie heading into the final match as the No. 3 match of Corsato-Owsianka and Laura Sanchez went into a third set tiebreaker that went all the way to an 18-16, giving Young Harris the final win to solidify their victory.
"We just have to take advantage of our opportunities, that's it. That's what you learn from that," head coach Jean love said. "Not just in that [final singles] match but there were some other matches we had some opportunities to do a little bit better and just didn't get it done."
This match will serve as the season opener for Tennessee Wesleyan. The Bulldogs were ranked 24th in the NAIA Preseason Coaches' poll on Jan. 23 after a 2017 season that saw them going 12-7, 6-2 in Appalachian Athletic Conference play. The team made it into the AAC Tournament where they were defeated by SCAD Atlanta in the finals, 5-0. They closed out the season as the No. 24 team in the NAIA's final poll of the season.
First-year head coach Francisco Gallardo now sits at the helm of the Bulldogs squad after playing for the men's team for four years and serving as an assistant coach for the men last season. His team returns eight players from last year's roster including 2017 AAC All-Conference Team member Haruka Hitrata.
The match with the Bulldogs will be the first outside competition the Eagles have faced in a week due to inclement weather postponing Saturday's previously scheduled match against Lee.
"It's going to be another opportunity to do what we're supposed to do, play the tennis we want to play and compete against someone other than ourselves because we've been doing a lot of that because the weather has kicked in on us, unfortunately," Love mentioned. "We're really looking forward to the opportunity to play somebody else."
Since 2013, the Eagles have remained undefeated against the Bulldogs, garnering a 4-0 record against TWU.
The last time Tennessee Wesleyan and C-N faced off was Feb. 24 of last season. That day, the Eagles walked away with an 8-1 victory at the Buddy Catlett Tennis Complex. The Eagles were victorious in two of the three doubles matches that day, winning at the No. 1 and No. 2 spots, the opening point coming from the tandem of Ali Harris (Crossville, Tenn.) and Corsato-Owsianka at the No. 1 spot followed up by the second-seeded duo of Alisa Liashova (Ukraine) and Klara Vuckovic (Germany).
Singles play was dominated by the Eagles as Love's squad swept the rest of the day with all six of the matches being decided in straight sets.
Tuesday's match between the Eagles and Bulldogs is set to start at 1:30 p.m. in Athens, Tenn. Results and a recap will be available on cneagles.com following the match.
