GREENEVILLE, Tenn. – A Pioneer sweep through doubles action led to a quick match conclusion as seventh-seeded Carson-Newman fell to second-seed, No. 14 Tusculum, 5-0, on Tuesday at the Nichols Tennis Complex.
The loss marks the third this decade for the Eagles (7-10) in the quarterfinal and the 10th-straight to the Pioneers (20-1) since the turn of the decade. It is also the third-straight shutout loss that the Eagles have suffered this season, the longest string of clean sheet losses C-N has faced this decade.
Tusculum's five-straight wins on the afternoon caused the remaining four matches to be deemed unfinished, all being stopped in the second sets.
"Today was a microcosm of our season," head coach Jean Love said. "We have been inconsistent at many points this season and, today, that really showed at two and three doubles."
Paired up at the No. 2 spot, Ali Harris (Crossville, Tenn.) and Alisa Liashova (Ukraine) fell in a tough 8-1 defeat at the hands of Franziska Funke and Katarina Majorova to open the day. The third-seeded match also featured a large margin of defeat as Mallory Jackson (Erwin, Tenn.) and Hannah Price (Knoxville, Tenn.) could not overcome Africa Mota and Amber Lackey, losing 8-2.
The top-seeded tandem of Jill Corsato-Owsianka (Düesseldorf, Germany) and Abby Reis (Des Moines, IA.) provided a strong fight against the twin sister duo of Annie and Caitlin McCullough, the 23rd ranked doubles pairing in the nation. The sides battled into an 8-8 tie that saw the Tusculum side winning the deciding point at 9-, giving the Pioneers a 3-0 lead heading into the latter portion of the afternoon.
"We were right there at one doubles," Love mentioned. "The girls played and executed but lost a volley that went right past their heads to wind up losing the tiebreak."
Harris fell in a pair of quick sets to No. 40 Majorova in the top singles match, 6-2 and 6-0.
The No. 6 spot ended up being the deciding factor for the day in another speedy Tusculum win as Jackson fell to Mota, 6-0 and 6-2.
The No. 2, 3, 4 and 5 singles matches were all left unfinished with Tusculum taking the first set in all but one of the faceoffs. Liashova was victorious in the first set of the fifth-seeded match with a 6-3 win over DeVincenzis. She was also leading the second set when it was called, 2-0.
"We had battles in singles, especially at the two and five spots with a win to start at the five, but with one and three ending so fast, that basically finished the day right there," Love said. "It's a sad way to end the season, but you have to tip the hat to the other team because they came out and played as you would expect from a good team like that."
Tusculum moves on to the SAC semifinal at the Cayce Tennis Center in Columbia, S.C. to take on third-seeded Queens on Friday.
For all of the latest news on Carson-Newman women's tennis during the offseason, stay glued to cneagles.com.
