ITA Division II rankings (March 10)

TEMPE, Ariz. – For the first time this season, Carson-Newman women's tennis was announced as one of the top 50 programs in all of Division II tennis Thursday after a very strong start to their 2022 spring season, holding a 7-2 record overall and 2-0 in SAC competition. Carson-Newman comes in at 35^th in the latest ITA poll.

This is the first ranking for Carson-Newman women's tennis since the conclusion of the 2020-21 season when C-N came in as the number 37 women's tennis program in Division II.

The Eagles have started strong in the spring as they have only dropped results to North Georgia to start the spring and DIII powerhouse Sewanee in mid-February. Since their last defeat, C-N has rallied off five straight wins including a pair of SAC wins over Coker and Limestone.

Along with the overall team ranking, senior Ana Carla Resende (Minas Gerais, Brazil) maintains her spot amongst one of the top-20 women's singles athletes in DII tennis. As she is currently 17-5 overall and 6-2 in the spring, Resende sits in 15^th place. Both of her two losses this spring came to nationally-ranked opponents as #53 Anna Markavota from North Georgia and #27 Ashleigh Simes from Lee have gotten the best of the Brazilian.

Resende joins Queen's Jill Morse (#26), Newberry's Zulay Castaneda (#37), and Wingate's Camilla Ciaccia (#43) as the other South Atlantic Conference women's singles players to be ranked in the top 50 for the March 10 poll.

Carson-Newman is one of seven total teams representing the South Atlantic Conference in the Division II team rankings for the week of March 10. Queens (N.C.) is ninth, Newberry is 16^th, Wingate is 18^th, Lincoln Memorial is 20^th, Lenoir-Rhyne is 31^st, and Tusculum is 45^th.

The Eagles will be in action against the Tennessee Wesleyan Bulldogs from Jefferson City this afternoon with first serve at 2:00 p.m. Then, on Saturday, it will be the first meeting for C-N women's tennis against Western Carolina since 1989 as the Eagles hit the road for first serve on 3:00 p.m. Saturday.

-CN -