MARS HILL, N.C. – With a sweep in the first three doubles matches of the day, Carson-Newman was able to contain a small resurgence by the Lions as the Eagles defeated Mars Hill, 7-2, on Thursday afternoon at the Hart Tennis Complex.
The victory puts Carson-Newman (7-7, 4-4 SAC) back on a winning streak at two consecutive matches while Mars Hill (2-13, 0-7 SAC) now hold a 10-match losing skid with six-straight South Atlantic Conference losses.
The Eagles now hold a slight 5-4 lead in the series since the start of the decade.
"The women swept doubles and really never looked back," head coach Jean Love said.
Mallory Jackson (Erwin, Tenn.) and Hannah Price (Knoxville, Tenn.) got the ball rolling for C-N at the No. 3 doubles spot with a powerful 8-0 clean sheet against Demarron Johnson and Brittany Wilkins. The Eagle duo now holds a four-match winning streak, the largest doubles winning streak on the squad.
At the top-seeded position, Jill Corsato-Owsianka (Düesseldorf, Germany) and Abby Reis (Des Moines, IA.) also snagged a commanding win with an 8-1 advantage over Evan Lake and Jasha Geerdink.
Ali Harris (Crossville, Tenn.) and Alisa Liashova (Ukraine) faced a tougher contest at the No. 2 position as the C-N tandem took an 8-4 victory over Sophia Pelaez and Dani Potts, giving the Eagles an early 3-0 lead.
Harris was the first Eagle to see her singles match conclude in the second half of the day as the junior fell to Lake in 6-3, 6-2 straight-set decisions in the top-seeded matchup, cutting the Carson-Newman lead 3-1. Harris has now fallen in three successive matches.
The Eagles took a fourth win thanks to Reis in the four spot as the freshman won in back-to-back 6-4 sets. Her victory marks the end of a nine-match losing skid.
Corsato-Owsianka's four-match winning streak came to a halt as she fell in the first set of the No. 2 seed match against Geerdink, 6-4, before finding redemption in the second set where the senior took her own 6-4 decision, forcing a third set to break the tie. The final set of the match fell in favor of the Lions with Geerdink taking a 7-5 win, once again cutting her team's deficit, 4-2.
That match was the last one in which the Lions would see success as the Eagles turned on the afterburners and kept momentum on their side with six-consecutive sets of clean sheet victories.
Price sailed to consecutive 6-0 wins over Potts at the fourth-spot followed by a mirrored match at the No. 5 position with Klara Vuckovic winning over Johnson, 6-0 and 6-0.
Price now holds the largest number of consecutive wins in singles play for C-N at five.
The final match of the day came at the No. 6 slot on the lineup with Liashova winning in strong fashion over Wilkins, 8-0.
Friday's previously scheduled exhibition match against Spartanburg Methodist has been cancelled, so the Eagles now prepare to host Tusculum on Tuesday. First serve is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the Buddy Catlett Tennis Complex.
