Eagles wrap up nonconference slate against Flames and Crusaders

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Carson-Newman women's tennis (3-2, 0-0 SAC) wraps up nonconference action this weekend, in search of two more wins before getting into SAC play. The Eagles face off with a pair of formidable Division II foes as they welcome in the Crusaders of Belmont Abbey (2-7, 0-0 CC) and the Lee Flames (0-2, 0-0 GSC) for a full day of action from the Knoxville Racquet Club Saturday.

Last week, C-N wrapped up a pair of matches as they gathered a mixed bag of results. The Eagles would see a loss at the hands of DIII powerhouse, Sewanee, Thursday before picking up a massive win over Division-I foe UT Martin last Saturday.

Last Thursday saw the Eagles drop a 6-3 result to the Tigers as part of C-N's first true road trip of the season. The match started with the home team Tigers taking two out of the three doubles matches and starting off the day going up 2-0.  

The lone doubles win for C-N came by the efforts of Violetta Khisamova (Yaroslavl, Russia) and Julia Speiser as they almost clear swept Nicole Nowak/Sarah Livingston of Sewanee by a score of 8-2 from number three doubles.

In singles, Ana Carla Resende started off with a dominant first set victory, 6-1, as she played once more from her usual number one singles placement. However, in the second set, Sewanee's Despriet would come back as she took a 6-2 result and forced a decisive third set between the two. Once the third set commenced, it would be C-N gathering their first match point as Resende took the third set by a final of 10-7.

The other Eagle to gain a singles victory was Summer Reeves as she played singles for the first time this spring, as she was in action from number five singles. After fighting through a 6-4 first set victory, Reeves looked to close it out but saw almost a similar result in the second set. The final score of the second set would be 7-6 as Reeves claimed the win and pushed C-N's point total to two.

Then, on Saturday, the Eagles took home a very pivotal 4-3 result as C-N gathered the early advantage and were able to hold on to take the victory. This was the first meeting between C-N and UT Martin in program history.

Once the action began from the Cedar Bluff Racquet Club, it was C-N rebounding after dropping the first official match result to take the early 1-0 advantage as they looked to maintain "home-court" advantage.

Violetta Khisamova and Julia Speiser got C-N started on the right foot as they took a 6-2 result in number three doubles. From there, it all came down to number one doubles as Hannah Price (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Natasha Forrest (Jersey, United Kingdom) would clinch the doubles point for C-N after they took home a 6-3 result.

"Doubles had some significant improvements. The behavior and attitude from everyone was a lot more intense," graduate coach Gabriel Dabdab said.

As singles play started, the Eagles worked to keep the momentum in their favor as they would take victories in number one, five, and six singles.

First, Ana Carla Resende would gather another notch in her career wins as she swept the number one singles match. The first set saw Resende take the 6-4 result before coming back even stronger and winning the match with a 6-0 result in the second set.

Then, in number five singles, Summer Reeves took home her first singles win of 2022. After dropping the first set 6-0, Reeves responded and took home the second set by a score of 6-3. From there, in the decisive third set, Reeves pulled out the second singles victory for C-N with a decision of 6-4 in her favor.

"Highlight to Summer that started slow but was able to focus again, come back and win in the third to clinch the match," Dabdab said.

Finally, in number six singles was Anita Chornei for C-N. The match would meet the two-set minimum as Chornei started off with a 7-5 result in the first set before storming back and taking the win with a 6-2 second set decision.

"Overall, great effort. Two more matches before conference will put us in a good place when the most important battles come," Dabdab said. "It feels good to beat a Division I team."

SCOUTING BELMONT ABBEY

Last February marked the last instance when C-N squared off with the Crusaders as the Eagles took a 7-0 clean sweep on that day.

Ana Carla Resende kept her career singles mark a steady success, with a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Vaughan of Belmont Abbey. To secure the clean sweep after singles play, Violetta Khisamova (0-6, 6-0, 10-3), Hannah Price (6-3, 6-3), Summer Reeves (6-0, 6-0), and Natasha Forrest (6-0, 6-1) dominated to keep the lead in favor of the Eagles no matter what.

In their last action of 2022, the Belmont Abbey women's team concluded last weekend with a pair of losses to Lander and host team Newberry. The Crusaders fell 4-0 to Newberry and 4-2 to the Bearcats to drop to 2-7 overall as they have not won since Feb. 11.

The doubles team of Daniella Galeano and Paola Socarras won their match while Frankee Hendricks recorded her second straight singles win. Joining Hendricks with a singles win was teammate Elliott Peterson.

SCOUTING LEE

Saturday will mark the first meeting between the Eagles and Flames since Feb. 24, 2021.

On that day, it was Carson-Newman inching out a close one as they overcame the Flames and took a 4-3 victory on the road.

"The girls won a tough match without a win in singles or doubles from Ana Carla which shows how much more depth we have this year," head coach Jim Frederick states. "We will be very good when Ana Carla is at the top of her game."

Hannah Price (Knoxville, Tenn.) got back to her winning ways by taking victories in both her doubles and singles matches. She and teammate Natasha Forrest (Jersey, United Kingdom) started the winning ways for the Eagles when they won 6-4 at no. 2 singles. Price then continued the day in the no. 3 singles position. There, she battled her way to a 6-3, 6-2 victory and claimed another valuable point for the Eagles.

Other notable performances for C-N included Summer Reeves (Maidstone, Kent, England) winning both her matches. She and Julia Speiser claimed a 7-6 (7-5) victory at no. 3 singles which claimed the Eagles the ever-so-valuable doubles point. Reeves won her singles match 6-2, 6-3 to give the Eagles an important edge which ultimately gave them the overall victory.

So far this spring, Lee has only seen two matches as they have fallen in both against Lincoln Memorial and Tusculum by a final of 5-2 in both instances. In the last match against Tusculum, it was the Pioneers holding the early advantage after winning two out three doubles matches.

Ashleigh Simes would get the Flames on the board with a win at number one singles. Meanwhile, the other win for Lee came from Mirjana Ragastovac who took home the win at number four singles.

"We get another chance to bounce back tomorrow, so that's what we are going to try and do," said Lee head coach Patric Hynes. "Ash (Simes)is giving us great opportunities and it was good for Mima (Ragastovac) to win her first dual match. We just need to learn from our losses and if we do that, we'll be fine."

The Flames picked up win no. 1 in 2022 as they defeated fellow GSC member, West Georgia, on Wednesday as they now turn their attention to facing the Crusaders and host Eagles this Saturday.

Opening serve from the Knoxville Racquet Club is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. Saturday morning between the Eagles and Crusaders. From there, it will be the Eagles and Flames taking to the courts with first serve slated for 7:30 p.m. 

Be sure to keep up with all things Carson-Newman women's tennis at cneagles.com and on social media on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

-CN-