SUMTER, S.C.- For the first time in program history, Carson-Newman (13-6) claimed victory in the SAC Women's Tennis Quarterfinals Thursday morning. The Eagles were in action against a familiar foe in the Limestone Saints, a team which C-N defeated earlier in 2021 by a result of 5-2. Thursday was no different as C-N carried their regular-season ending five-match win streak into Sumter, S.C. and swept the Saints 4-0 to advance to the SAC Semifinals on Friday with the number one seed Wingate Bulldogs.
"It's awesome to be moving onto the semifinals tomorrow. We've had such a good year," senior Hannah Price said. "I'm really proud of how we played today and look forward to seeing how tomorrow's match plays out."
On the doubles side of competition, the Eagles won handily at No. 1 and No. 3 with junior Ana Carla Resende (Minas Gerais, Brazil) and senior Abby Reis (Des Moines, IA.) defeating Sophia Marchetta and Anastasiia Khriapko 6-3 in number one doubles action. Meanwhile, the number three doubles pairing of freshman Summer Reeves (Maidstone, Kent, England) and Julia Speiser continued their 2021 success with a 6-2 victory over Maria Radu and Felicitas Picinini from the number three doubles spot to clinch the valuable 1-0 match advantage for C-N.
Due to the point being decided, the match between the duo of second-team All-SAC selections senior Hannah Price (Knoxville, Tenn.) and sophomore Natasha Forrest (Jersey, United Kingdom) for Carson-Newman and Alexandra Dolfi/Sara Valentini of Limestone was cut short as Price and Forrest were leading 5-4.
Moving into singles play ahead 1-0, the Eagles knew they had to keep the momentum on their side. The Eagles got off to an early start as Price was in her normal number three singles spot for the 18th time this season. Thursday was an easy two-set sweep for Price as she continued her own momentum to claim a 6-4, 6-1 result over Maria Radu of Limestone. This pushed C-N ahead 2-0 with two other matches in progress. With her win, Price moves to 13-6 overall in singles action and 8-5 against her SAC opposition. More notable, Price currently sits with the third-most career wins in singles for an Eagle with 37. She moves only one behind Patricia Guerreiro who notched an impressive 38 victories from 2013-16.
The number five singles matchup saw Price's double partner, Forrest, in a battle with Caroline St. Antoine of Limestone. Forrest, entering Thursday with a 7-5 record in SAC singles, made sure to keep her winning ways alive with a 6-3, 6-1 sweep over St. Antoine. Of her 18 singles matches in the 2021 season, 17 have come from the number five singles position as Forrest is now 10-7 from the spot and moves to 11-7 overall in singles action for 2021.
C-N, already up 3-0, was not looking to stop there as they claimed their fourth match point thanks to Speiser playing number six singles. Speiser went face-to-face with Sara Valentini of Limestone, as she walked away with the 6-3, 6-0 win to push C-N ahead 4-0 with only three matches left to play. This notched C-N's first SAC quarterfinals victory since XX as they will advance to play the winner of #1 Wingate and #8 Lincoln Memorial on Friday in the 2021 SAC Women's Tennis Semifinals.
The other singles matches did not see complete action, but C-N was ahead in all three of the remaining action before it was called short and C-N was handed a 4-0 victory.
In number one singles, the #46 women's player in DII tennis, Ana Carla Resende of C-N, faced off with XX of Limestone. Before her match was cut short, Resende was leading 6-2, 4-2 in the action. The same was seen from number four singles and freshman Summer Reeves. Reeves had won her first set 7-5 before taking a 3-1 set two lead prior to the match ending. Finally, freshman Violetta Khisamova (Yaroslavl, Russia) was battling in number two singles action where she was able to win set one by a score of 6-1 before her opponent stormed back and led set two 5-2 prior to the stoppage.
The Eagles will return to the Palmetto Tennis Complex at 9 a.m. on Friday to square off with the number one seed, Wingate Bulldogs, in the 2021 SAC Women's Tennis Semifinals from Sumter, S.C.
Be sure to keep up with all things Carson-Newman women's tennis at cneagles.com and via all social media accounts.
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