JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman women's tennis (6-5, 2-3 SAC) returned back home on Saturday to welcome the Lenoir-Rhyne Bears to Mossy Creek. The Eagles were in search of another crucial SAC win, but were overcome by the depth of Lenoir-Rhyne as the Bears walk away the 5-2 team victors.
The afternoon started off with L-R taking the overall doubles point but C-N being able to take the number two doubles match as senior Hannah Price (Knoxville, Tenn.) and sophomore Natasha Forrest (Jersey, United Kingdom) were 6-2 winners. However, the other doubles matches could not go the way of C-N as the scores fell 6-2 in number one doubles and 6-1 at number three doubles to L-R.
"The girls had a very solid chance to claim victory today," head coach Jim Frederick said. "All three freshman continued their careers with the final matches of three sets being 6-4 which speaks highly of them."
Once singles action picked up, quite the same storyline could be said as junior Ana Carla Resende (Minas Gerais, Brazil) and Forrest were the only singles to claim wins. Resende, in her usual number one singles slot, took home a 7-5, 6-3 decision. This moves her to 27-7 all-time as an Eagle in the position as she hopes to continue the trend throughout the rest of 2021.
Forrest battled in number five singles as she walked away with the 8-6 decision. This allowed C-N to claim their first point on the day. However, the main takeaway of the day by head coach Jim Frederick was the play of his freshman ladies.
All three singles matches (number two, four, and six) involving a freshman ended with the three set decision of 6-4. Frederick was impressed with the attitude and competitiveness of the team and hopes to see it continue tomorrow and throughout the rest of the season. Freshman Violetta Khisamova (Yaroslavl, Russia) saw a 3-6, 6-3, 4-6 decision at number two singles go to her opponent while fellow freshman Summer Reeves (Maidstone, Kent, England) held the number four singles spot and battled to a 6-3, 0-6, 4-6 decision. Finally, freshman Julia Speiser continued the trend of three-set thrillers as she faced off with her L-R opponent as the decision fell 6-3, 4-6, 4-6 in the other way.
Price, sadly, saw her second straight singles loss as she is now 8-3 on the year from number three singles and will hope to get back to winning ways starting tomorrow.
Carson-Newman returns to the courts tomorrow afternoon for a 1 p.m. first serve with the Newberry Wolves paying Mossy Creek a visit.
Be sure to keep up with all things Carson-Newman women's tennis via cneagles.com and all social media accounts.
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