NEWBERRY, S.C. – Another early 2-1 disadvantage was too much for the Eagles to overcome as Carson-Newman suffered its third-straight loss of the season, losing to Newberry in its first South Atlantic Conference road contest of the season, 7-2, on Friday afternoon at the Oakland Tennis Center.
The loss pushes the Eagles (3-5, 0-2 SAC) to 3-6 against the Wolves since 2010.
Newberry (15-4, 2-1 SAC) opened the day with an 8-5 victory at No. 2 doubles with Elisa Aguirre and Lucia Davila defeating the C-N tandem of Alisa Liashova (Ukraine) and Hannah Price (Knoxville, Tenn.).
In top-seeded doubles action, Jill Corsato-Owsianka (Düesseldorf, Germany) and Abby Reis (Des Moines, IA.) fell to Amanda Carrillo and Marta Gomar in a tough 8-6 defeat.
The Eagles came up victorious in the final doubles faceoff of the afternoon as Ali Harris (Crossville, Tenn.) and Mallory Jackson (Erwin, Tenn.) defeated Joelle Hulse and Rebeca Martinez, 8-6, in the third-seeded match.
The second portion of the afternoon started in arduous fashion for Carson-Newman as second-seeded Reis fell to Aguirre in a pair of 6-0 matches before the Eagles' top player in Corsato-Owsianka was also defeated in straight sets by Carrillo, 6-3 and 6-1.
Price had a solid chance of taking the first set against Gomes before Newberry's third-seeded player won the set with a 7-5 advantage. Momentum stayed on her side in the second set, clinching the win with a 6-3 victory.
Gomes' victory bolstered the Wolves' advantage, giving them a 5-1 lead to secure the win.
The No. 4 singles match brought a small change in pace as the Liashova took consecutive 6-3 sets over Davila, cutting the Newberry lead 5-2.
Klara Vuckovic (Germany) competed at the sixth-seed for the Eagles on Friday but fell to Husle 8-7.
Jackson won the first set of the No. 6 match with a 6-1 advantage before Martinez battled back in the second with a 7-6 advantage to send the final match of the day into a third set. In the tiebreaker, Martinez took a 10-6 victory to cap off her team's victory.
Carson-Newman returns home on Saturday to conclude its three-straight days of conference play, hosting No. 20 Wingate. That match is slated to begin at 2 p.m. at the Buddy Catlett Tennis Complex.