JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The Carson-Newman women's tennis team has won back-to-back matches for the second time this season, with a 6-3 victory over Lincoln Memorial on Tuesday afternoon.
"Another big conference win for us," Carson-Newman tennis coach Jean Love said, "We came out strong in doubles winning at No. 1 and No. 2. We were close to winning at No. 3 doubles as well. So we had some momentum going into singles."
Carson-Newman (6-6, 5-3) got things started in doubles action on Tuesday. The No. 1 doubles team of Ali Harris (Crossville, Tenn.) and Jill Corsato-Owsianka (Germany) broke a two match losing streak in doubles play. The duo beat the Lincoln Memorial (9-4, 3-3) tandem 8-4, giving the Eagles an important point to begin the game.
The No. 2 doubles tandem of Alisa Liashova (Ukraine) and Klara Vuckovic (Germany) kept their four game win streak alive after an 8-4 victory. The duo are 8-2 on the year and 7-1 within South Atlantic Conference play.
The No.3 doubles pairing of Lindy Tatum (Henderson, Tenn.) and Sydney Ledington (Corbin, Ky.) have lost three straight matches. The duo is now just 2-8 on the year within doubles play. The Eagles took a 2-1 advantage heading into the singles portion of the match.
Harris broke a four game losing streak at No. 1 singles with a three set victory over Johanna Delisse 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. The sophomore has now improved her record in three set matches to 2-1 on the season.
"The big momentum boost came from Ali at No. 1 singles coming back to win in three sets." Love said, "I'm afraid to say that if that win had gone to LMU, the whole match might have changed in their favor."
Liashova was unable to break her three match losing streak at No. 2 singles. The native of Ukraine lost in straight sets to Marat Pinol 6-3, 6-3. The only other loss in singles play occurred with Ledington at the No. 6 singles position. Ledington has now lost two straight and falls to 3-8 on the season.
Corsato-Owsianka picked up her second consecutive victory at the No. 3 singles position. The junior is now 6-6 on the season and 4-4 within conference play. Fellow German Klara Vuckovic is also riding a two match win streak at the No. 4 singles position. Vuckovic has an identical overall record as Corsato-Owsianka at 6-6.
"Jill started us off with a good win at No. 3 singles and we went up 3-1 in the overall score." Love said, "Once again, Klara at No. 4 singles came through with a straight set win to put us over the hump at 5-2."
Tatum rounded out singles play with a victory at No. 5 singles. The freshman defeated Javiera Gonzalez 7-6, 6-1 to improve to 5-8 on the season.
"Lindy (Tatum) at No. 5 finished strong with a victory after coming back from down in the first set." Love said, "That gave us our sixth point. Just a good win for us."
The Eagles next match will be on the road against the University of the Cumberlands at 1 p.m. on March 30.
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