JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – After closing the regular season with a solid week, No. 44 Carson-Newman (10-7, 8-4 SAC) faces off with in-state rival No. 43 Tusculum (14-7, 8-4 SAC) to open SAC Tournament play at the Palmetto Tennis Center in Sumter, South Carolina, on Tuesday at 2 PM.
After its narrow win over C-N on April 9th, Tusculum went on to win two of its final three, including back-to-back wins over Emory & Henry and UVA-Wise to finish the season on a high note.
In the Pioneers' win over the Eagles, despite losing the doubles point, they were able to bounce back, earning four of the six singles points to take the match 4-3.
However, there were a lot of positive takeaways for C-N. In a matchup between two recently named all-conference duos, the Eagles' Natasha Forrest and Summer Reeves, and the Pioneers' Valentina Loretz and Elodie Baechler, C-N's pairing showed dominance in a 6-1 win.
Despite dropping four matches in singles, Anita Chornei earned a hard-fought three-set win in No. 2 singles, and freshman Leah McBride earned an impressive straight-set win in No. 5 singles.
Since the loss, the Eagles have surged, winning their final three matches to secure a national ranking for the first time this season. Two days after the loss to the Pioneers, C-N took down Lincoln Memorial 6-1 before a dramatic 4-3 win over No. 31 Newberry on Senior Day. The Eagles closed the season with an impressive win at Mars Hill.
It will be a tough matchup between two solid teams in the South Atlantic Conference, featuring multiple all-conference selections on both sides.
Tusculum's Elodie Baechler and Valentina Loretz were selected to the second team in doubles, while Baechler also joined the first team in singles. Sisters Valentina and Paulina Loretz were also selected to the second team.
Natasha Forrest and Summer Reeves earned second-team doubles honors for C-N, while Forrest also joined the third team in singles. The two played a large role in the Eagles' 2024 success, helping C-N to ten wins in head coach Jon Parker's first season with the program.
If C-N moves on, it will face the winner of 8-seeded Anderson and 1-seeded Wingate on Friday at 1 PM.
The quarterfinal matchup between the in-state rivals starts tomorrow at 2 PM in Sumter, South Carolina.
