SALISBURY, N.C. -- After going on a two-win streak and working their way up in league standings, Carson-Newman (7-7, 4-3 SAC) women's tennis fell 5-2 to Catawba (12-5, 3-3 SAC) in a tough match on the road.
"This match was important for both programs," Head Coach Jim Frederick said. "We're waiting on two recruits from London to make their decision between Catawba and C-N. They won the doubles point and Ana Carla won a long hard match but the rest of the girls just played with no heart."
Beginning the day with doubles, No. 1 and No. 3 stepped up for the Eagles and earned the point. Ana Carla Resende (Minas Gerais, Brazil) and Ali Harris (Crossville, Tenn.) defeated Erisa Onchi and Carolina Correia 6-2 at No. 1 while Alisa Liashova (Ukraine) and Klara Vuckovic (Germany) got the win against Olivia Wooldridge and Lauren Laughton 6-3. At No. 2, Hanna Price (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Abby Reis (Des Moines, IA) were the only two that fell short playing against Sophie Hirsch and Una Pandurevic. It was a close match, but ultimately they fell 7-6.
Moving into singles play ahead 1-0, Resende was the only Eagle that was able to grab a singles win. Her first set lasted for quite sometime at No. 1 as she and Onchi battled it out for close to two hours. Resende was able to win it 7-6 and take the second 6-0 to improve her record to 8-3 on the season.
Moving into singles play ahead 1-0, the Eagles just could not hold on. At No. 2 singles, Harris was defeated by Hirsch 6-4, 6-0. Price battled in her first set and narrowly lost 7-6 but couldn't keep it up in the second falling 6-3 to Pandurevic at No. 3. Liashova came up short against Correia falling 6-4, 6-2 at No. 4 and Reis took the loss against Wooldridge 6-4, 6-1.
Claire Smith (Lexington, Ky.) played at the No. 6 position in the stead of Vuckovic and took her match to three sets. She dropped the first 6-4 but came back determined in the second and won 6-1. The two played a ten-point tiebreaker for the match but it swayed in the Indians favor as Smith fell 10-5.
The Eagles are now 7-7 on the season and will face Anderson (S.C.) at home on Tuesday, April 2 at 2:00 p.m. For more information, updates and results check back on cneagles.com.
- CN -
