HICKORY, N.C.– In a battle of two of the three remaining undefeated programs in SAC play, Carson-Newman women's tennis (11-2, 4-0 SAC) hit the road to face off with no. 13 ranked Lenoir Rhyne on Saturday. The Bears came into the match on a 13-match win streak, including 6-0 in SAC play this season. However, C-N did not mess around as they easily handled business and won 5-2 to move their current win streak to nine straight thus far.
The Eagles have not dropped a match since losing to DIII program, Sewanee, in mid-February.
Saturday afternoon got started early as doubles was almost a clean sweep for C-N, as they took two out of three matches and the much valued 1-0 advantage heading into singles play.
The Eagles got on the board first as Ana Carla Resende (Minas Gerais, Brazil) and Summer Reeves (Maidstone, Kent, England) took home the 6-4 win from number two doubles. The Eagles were in a prime spot to sweep doubles and would clinch the doubles point as number three action fell their way as well.
At number three doubles, Violetta Khisamova (Yaroslavl, Russia) and Julia Speiser played their hearts out to hold the momentum for C-N and push the Eagles ahead 1-0 on the scoreboard. In one of the day's most anticipated matches, it was Khisamova/Speiser winning 6-2 as the doubles point would be secured by C-N in the process.
Finally, in number one doubles, Hannah Price (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Natasha Forrest (Jersey, United Kingdom) would be the lone doubles pair to fall as it was the no. 31 ranked doubles pairing of Gemma Southwick/Lucy Whelan of L-R taking the win. Price and Forrest would fall 4-6, but gathered themselves and regrouped as singles play would get started right away with numbers one, three, and five in action first.
"We knew we had a lot to prove coming into this match, especially cause our last two opponents had been ranked nationally," senior Ana Carla Resende said. "However, we also knew we just needed to play the way we knew how and the result would fall as it should."
Singles competition saw the Eagles claim four of the six matches, including three straight victories to start off action and secure the valuable victory.
The lead grew to 2-0 for C-N as senior Ana Carla Resende (Minas Gerais, Brazil) stepped up and handled her own in the number one position. The Brazil native continued to mark her C-N legacy as she would win 6-2, 6-3 Saturday over a familiar foe in L-R's Southwick.
The Eagles would see Violetta Khisamova finish up next from number three singles. After falling behind early on in set one, the sophomore rallied back hard to secure the 6-4 victory as the second set came up soon after. In set two, it was almost déjà vu for the Russia native as she would face some shortcomings, but ultimately, Khisamova kept her composure to attain another 6-4 set victory and push C-N ahead 3-0.
The match was clinched in number five singles by junior Natasha Forrest (Jersey, United Kingdom) who had to battle back in order to keep the winning ways alive for C-N. The one misstep in C-N not claiming a clean sweep came from number two singles as the visiting Railsplitters would pull out a two-set victory over C-N's Summer Reeves by scores of 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.
"This was a massive win for us and we should definitely be ranked in the next rankings release," Resende said. "If we're not ranked, we will continue to prove what we can do and just focus on ourselves as it has been like so far this spring."
Hannah Price looked to keep L-R off the board, but was unsuccessful at number four singles. As C-N had already claimed the overall victory, she and her L-R opponent would play an eight-game super set, as L-R won 8-1 to officially get on the Saturday scoreboard.
Then, Summer Reeves was in action for number two singles. As she also held a chance to blow open the deficit, she would fall as well as L-R climbed back into the match and trailed 4-2. The win came from L-R's Evgeniya Pugina who would defeat Reeves by scores of 1-6, 2-6.
Finally, Anita Chornei (Kyiv, Ukraine) was in action at number six singles. The junior has been able to hold her own as she returned to the program after a year off. Saturday was another step in the right direction as she finished off another C-N victory with a 8-2 win at the number six position.
"We know what lies ahead of us, so we just need to take on a one-match mindset and control what we can," head coach Jim Frederick said. "Wednesday should be a match we can control, but from there, the schedule is full of many challenges."
The Eagles continue their time on the road as they head up north to face the Mars Hill Lions on Wednesday. First serve between the Eagles and Lions is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.
Be sure to keep up with all things Carson-Newman women's tennis via cneagles.com and on all social media accounts.
