TEMPE, Ariz. – After wrapping up a successful fall season for the Eagles, Carson-Newman women's tennis senior Ana Carla Resende (Minas Gerais, Brazil) has been awarded a spot in the top five of the ITA Southeast Region singles rankings. This is her first ITA acknowledgement since finishing the 2020-21 season as the #43 women's singles player in all Division II. Joining Ana Carla Resende in the latest ITA Southeast region rankings is the pairing of Hannah Price (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Natasha Forrest (Jersey, United Kingdom) as the duo were slated as the sixth doubles pairing.
Resende joins Wingate's Elena Gunfaus (third), Anderson's Anna Greer (seventh), Wingate's Camilla Ciaccia (#11), Anderson's Elisa Aguirre (#13), and Newberry's Zulay Castaneda (#19) as the only South Atlantic Conference women's singles players ranked in the Southeast region top-20.
"Being ranked second in the hardest region should accumulate to a future national ranking for her," Carson-Newman head coach Jim Frederick said. "Not only that but she finished top four in the country by making it to the semifinals of the ITA Cup after playing some tough opponents."
The Brazil native finished her 2021 fall campaign with a singles record of 11-3, including a 3-1 mark against regionally ranked opponents and a .500 clip against nationally ranked foes.
Most notably in her fall season, Ana Carla was selected as one of the top-16 women's singles players in Division II as she would take part in the 2021 ITA Cup from Rome, Georgia earlier this season from October 14-17. While at the ITA Cup, Resende advanced all the way to being one of the last four remaining before ultimately falling to the number one singles player from last season, Barry's Deniz Khazan in the semifinals.
Of her three losses, one came against the top-ranked singles player in the Southeast region, Flagler's Luisa Hrda, as the two faced off in the finals at the ITA Regional Tournament in Sumter, South Carolina earlier this fall. After both not dropping a set through the entire tournament, both Hrda and Resende came out and fought for every point. After being down 4-0, Resende battled back to win three straight before eventually falling 6-3 in the first set to Hrda.
"Ana Carla got down 4-0 in both sets but battled back to win three straight games. She had a point to tie and lost it," Frederick said. "In the second set, she fought off two match points at 5-2 down before getting it back to leading 6-5. She pulled a hamstring in the first set and battled through it the rest of the match."
As she finished runner-up in the ITA Southeast Regionals, Resende not only claimed a spot in the aforementioned ITA Cup, but marked the highest individual finish for Resende at the event. Her previous appearance, in 2019, saw the Brazil native compete in consolation bracket action when she last appeared for C-N at the ITA Southeast Regionals.
For Price and Forrest, their fall season saw the duo finish 8-3 as they lead the team with no other pairing winning more than three matches. Price and Forrest started the fall season with five straight victories within the ITA Southeast Regional and the Wingate Fall Invitational. The duo would gather a trio of other victories from the Enchanted Valley Showdown before wrapping up with action from the Eagle Invitational in October. Last season, Hannah Price and Natasha Forrest tied the program record with 15 wins to go along with four losses. In 2021 SAC play, the Eagles duo finished 10-2 which included two wins over ranked opponents in Queens and Wingate while suffering losses to Anderson and Tusculum.
The trio of Eagles plus the rest of the Carson-Newman women's tennis program will continue to prepare for their spring season to begin on February 5 as they will take on the Union (Ky.) Bulldogs at the Knoxville Racquet Club.
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