HICKORY, N.C. – A 2-1 advantage in doubles play propelled the Eagles to their first South Atlantic Conference win of the season as they defeated Lenoir-Rhyne 6-3 on Friday at the YMCA of Catawba Valley.
Carson-Newman (4-6, 1-3 SAC) has now won three-straight against the Bears. The victory also breaks a four-match losing skid for the Orange and Blue.
Lenoir-Rhyne (8-5, 1-3 SAC) took the first win of the day at the second-seeded doubles spot as Taylor Fredrickson and Marta Escanero Funes defeated Alisa Liashova (Ukraine) and Hannah Price (Knoxville, Tenn.) 8-6.
In the No. 3 match, Mallory Jackson (Erwin, Tenn.) and Ali Harris (Crossville, Tenn.) took down Iulia Ponomareva and Sara Kalkenova with a strong 8-5 showing.
At the top-seeded showdown, Jill Corsato-Owsianka (Düesseldorf, Germany) and Abby Reis (Des Moines, IA.) were victorious over Emily Murchland and Sanne Janssen in an 8-7 tie-breaker match that saw the C-N duo win it at the seventh point. The set put C-N up 2-1 heading into the singles portion of the afternoon.
Making her first return at the No. 1 spot since Feb. 6, Harris fell in straight sets to Escanero Funes, 6-3 and 6-2.
Following her was Corsato-Owsianka at the No. 2 spot to face Ponomareva. Corsato-Owsianka took back-to-back 6-2 sets to put the Eagles up 3-2. Her victory marks the 39th singles win of her career, pushing her to the top of the career singles wins list this decade. She surpassed Patricia Guerreiro who went 38-28 from 2013-16.
Reis took over the three-seed for the Eagles to face Kalkenova. Despite a battle in the first set from both sides that needed a 10-point tiebreaker, the match fell in favor of the Bears, 7-6, 6-2, tying the match at threes.
Murchland took the first set at the No. 4 spot over Price with a 6-2 advantage. Price answered with a 6-4 win of her own to send the match into a third-set tiebreaker. She reigned victorious in the final set, winning with another 6-4 advantage.
From there, momentum stayed on C-N's side.
Jackson defeated Fredrickson in straight sets at the sixth-seed, 6-3, 6-2, before Liashova finished the day at the No. 5 spot with a 7-5, 6-4 straight-set win over Janssen.
Carson-Newman returns home on Sunday to host Coker. That match will begin at 1 p.m. at the Buddy Catlett Tennis Complex.
