JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn.—After suffering its first loss of the season on Feb. 21 at Newberry, the Carson-Newman women's tennis team got back into the win column at home following a 7-2 rout of the University of the Cumberlands Friday afternoon in nonconference play.
"After a heartbreaking loss to Newberry in our last match, I loved the way we came out and played today against the Cumberlands," coach Jean Love said following the win. "We played well enough in doubles and then came on strong to play some pretty good singles matches."
Carson-Newman (2-1) came out of the gates storming to sweep three matches in doubles play.
Ali Harris (Crossville, Tenn.) and Patricia Guerreiro (Portugal) started things off with an 8-3 win in the first doubles match on the day.
Jill Corsato-Owsianka (Germany) and Brooke Sanderson (Evans, GA.) then followed with an 8-6 win at No. 2. The freshman tandem of Hannah Ayers (Woodstock, Ga.) and Gabrielle Wood (Woodstock, Ga.) concluded doubles play for the Eagles with an 8-5 victory in the third-seeded match.
"It was good to see Ali [Harris] and Patricia [Guerreiro] play solidly at No. 1 doubles," Love said. "Jill [Corsato-Owsianka] and Brooke [Sanderson], Gabrielle [Wood] and Hannah [Ayers] followed with doubles wins as well. That really set the tone for the day and it was god to see a sweep in doubles."
However, the Cumberlands (0-4) were able to strike first when singles play commenced.
Reigning second-team NAIA All-American Isabella Dale took care of Harris in two straight sets, 6-1, 6-0, to capture the Patriots' first overall match point on the day in the first singles match. Guerreiro was then able to respond by posting a 6-1, 6-2 win at No. 2 singles for the Eagles.
Following the senior's win, C-N was able to pull off three more straight singles wins.
Corsato-Owsianka handled business in the third-seeded contest by taking the 6-2, 6-3 outcome over Sydni Grimes. Sanderson then followed suit with a 6-4, 6-3 win and No. 4, and Wood was able to take down her Patriot counterpart 6-3, 6-0 in the fifth-seeded match.
Carson-Newman finished the day with a singles loss at No. 6 as Haleigh Chastain (Knoxville, Tenn.) fell in three sets to Hannah Wampler 6-2, 5-7 and 10-5.
The Eagles will look to keep the winning ways alive as they get right back into action Saturday afternoon with another home conquest against Southern Wesleyan.
A full recap will follow the conclusion of Carson-Newman's match against the Warriors and can be found at cneagles.com.
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