JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Despite being down 2-1 through doubles play, Carson-Newman was not able to bounce back, losing five of its first six matches in its South Atlantic Conference season opener en route to a 7-2 defeat against Lincoln Memorial on Thursday afternoon at the Buddy Catlett Tennis Complex.
The defeat marks the sixth against LMU since the turn of the decade and places the Eagles (3-4, 0-1 SAC) on a two-match losing skid.
The Railsplitters (8-2, 2-0 SAC) took an early lead with a strong showing in doubles action.
The top-seeded Eagle pairing of Jill Corsato-Owsianka (Düesseldorf, Germany) and Abby Reis (Des Moines, IA.) were able to overcome the LMU threat of Angelica Solano and Marta Pinol with an 8-5 victory to start the day.
At the No. 2 spot, Alisa Liashova (Ukraine) and Klara Vuckovic (Germany) found struggles early against Johanna Delisse and Julia Loos and could not battle back as the duo fell 8-2.
Ali Harris (Crossville, Tenn.) made her return to the lineup for the Eagles after missing time due to an injury from the Feb. 21 match against Lee. She was reunited with her doubles partner from that same match in Mallory Jackson (Erwin, Tenn.) to face Kristin Vogel and Julia Valls at the third-seeded position. LMU's duo took the match 8-4.
Singles action began with a nail-biter at the top position as Corsato-Owsianka faced Pinol. Corsato-Owsianka took the first set with a 6-3 advantage before Pinol forced a third-set tiebreaker with a 6-3 win of her own in the second. An intense third set fell in favor of Pinol at 7-5, pushing the LMU lead to 3-1 on the afternoon.
The loss keeps Corsato-Owsianka at 38 singles victories in her four-year career. She is still tied with Patricia Guerriro for the most career singles wins.
In the second-spot, another three-set tiebreaker was forced. LMU's Vogel took the first set with a 6-4 decision before the C-N's Reis won the second set with a 6-4 advantage. In the third, Vogel put her foot on the accelerator for a 6-3 win.
Liashova faced adversity at the four-spot as she fell in back-to-back 6-2 sets to Julia Valls, securing the victory for LMU with a 5-1 advantage with three matches still to conclude. Liashova's loss brings her four-match winning streak to a halt as she moves to 5-2 on the season, her first defeat at the No. 4 spot in the lineup.
C-N's first singles win did not come until the third-seeded matchup. Hannah Price (Knoxville, Tenn.) lost the first set 7-5 to Loos before charging back in the second set with a 6-4 win. Momentum stayed on Price's side as she snagged the third set in a tiebreaker, 7-6.
At the five spot, Julia Zellner defeated Jackson in straight sets, 6-0 and 7-5 before Solano closed the day with an 8-3 win over Vuckovic.
The Eagles now turn their attention to a Friday road trip to Newberry for the second of three-straight days of SAC action. That match with the Wolves will begin at 1:30 p.m. at the Oakland Tennis Center.
