JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. -- After a tough loss against Lenoir-Rhyne on Tuesday, Carson-Newman (9-8, 5-4 SAC) looks to bounce back on the road against the Wingate Bulldogs (16-1, 8-1 SAC) on Saturday for their final match of the season.
The Eagles fought in a tough match against Lenoir-Rhyne just three days ago where if they had won, would have given them the chance to host the conference tournament for the first time in seventeen years. Coming down to Abby Reis' (Des Moines, IA) singles match, the fate of the team was in her hands at the No. 5 position. After a long match that went into two tiebreakers in the first two sets, she fell 6-1 in the third to give the Eagles a 4-3 loss to the Bears.
Moving into Saturday, the Eagles are 9-8 overall on the season and 5-4 in SAC play. They are sitting at No. 5 in the South Atlantic Conference compared to Wingate's No. 2 spot in the league and No. 15 in the nation. The Bulldogs are 16-1 on the season and 8-1 in the conference with their only loss being to Tusculum who is No. 1 in the league. The Bulldogs have two singles players in the top 50 rankings of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association with Michela Verpelli at No. 30 and Alisa Rudenko at No. 57. The same two form the No. 29 doubles duo in the country while Claudia de Andreis and Chyi Lee of the Bulldogs are the No. 45 doubles team in the nation.
Going up against the stout competition, the Eagles will begin match play at 4 p.m. Saturday afternoon in Wingate, N.C. For results and updates check back on cneagles.com.
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