JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – After a week full of upsets, Carson-Newman women's tennis (11-2, 5-0 SAC) will look to remain one of the hottest SAC teams as they see a pair of matches as SAC play rolls on. The Eagles will head to Mars Hill on Wednesday for a meeting with the Lions before hosting no. 35 Wingate on Saturday in early morning Saturday action.
The Eagles come into this week's pair of matches after pulling off upsets over no. 28 Lincoln Memorial and no. 13 Lenoir-Rhyne by scores of 6-1 and 5-2. The win over LMU marked the first home victory over the east Tennessee foe since 2017 when C-N won 6-3. Meanwhile, the Eagles also pulled off a road victory over the Bears for the first time since 2018.
The Eagles pulled ahead of LMU early as they claimed the doubles point after winning two out of three matches, only falling at the no. one position.
"Every match for us from now until the rest of the season is important," head coach Jim Frederick said. "We need to battle every match and not just assume we are better even if we feel like we are. It shows our talent if we can handle the no. 26 team in the nation on our home courts."
Singles competition saw the Eagles claim five of the six matches. The lone loss for C-N singles came when Summer Reeves (Maidstone, Kent, England) would fall 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 at number two.
"For us to only drop one match against a team like LMU shows how deep our girls can be this year," Frederick said.
Last Saturday saw the Eagles look completely in control as they moved their win streak to nine matches, as they have not dropped a result 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.
"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 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. However, the junior maintained her composure as she pulled out the 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 victory and gave C-N their second straight upset victory of the week.
"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."
SCOUTING MARS HILL
Last year's meeting between the Eagles and Lions was a no-doubter as C-N pulled out a 7-0 sweep on their home courts. In last year's meeting, Hannah Price (Knoxville, Tenn.) matched her career high for most singles wins in a single season with her 10th win of the 2020-21 season.
As last year belonged to C-N, the Eagles move their win streak to six straight over Mars Hill and collect their second consecutive sweep as they were able to sweep Mars Hill 7-0 back in 2019.
Overall, C-N leads the series history by a 7-4 margin including wins in three out of the last five from Mars Hill. The Lions last defeated C-N at home in 2014 when they were victorious 6-3.
The Lions (6-8, 1-6 SAC) have been on a rollercoaster of emotions this season as they won their lone SAC match on March 6 against Catawba 5-2 before going on the present three match SAC losing streak.
In their last match this season, the Limestone Saints got the better of the Lions as they handed them a 7-0 sweep, only the second time this season which Mars Hill has been swept by a conference opponent.
SCOUTING NO. 35 WINGATE
Saturday will serve as a chance for Carson-Newman to try to do something which has never been done before, defeat Wingate. In the series history, it is completely one-sided as the Bulldogs have won all previous 13 meetings, including in last year's SAC semifinals from Sumter, S.C.
In the last regular season meeting between the two sides, then no. 15 Wingate picked up a 6-1 victory from their home courts. The lone point for C-N came by way of doubles as they would pick up the valuable doubles point before falling in all six singles matches.
Fast forwarding to 2022, Wingate has won two straight matches over Newberry and UVA Wise after suffering two straight losses to nationally ranked foes in no. 13 Columbus State (4-3) and no. 9 Queens (4-3).
The nationally-ranked Bulldogs pulled off the upset of no. 11 Newberry by a final of 5-2. The Bulldogs won the doubles point to hold the early advantage before holding and winning four out of six singles matches for the overall win.
Then, in their last match of the season, Wingate would take the doubles point before going on and sweeping singles with all matches finishing in the two-set minimum.
The Bulldogs will play host to fellow national powerhouse, Lenoir-Rhyne, on Tuesday before making the trip to Jefferson City for a meeting with the hometown Eagles on Saturday.
Opening serve from Mars Hill is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. between the Eagles and Lions Wednesday. Meanwhile, the Eagles and Bulldogs will square off in Mossy Creek with a first serve scheduled for 10:00 a.m. Saturday.
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.
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