JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Stiff battles in doubles and singles were not enough for the Eagles as Carson-Newman fell to 13th-ranked Tusculum, 9-0, in Tuesday afternoon's senior day match.
The loss brings the Eagles (7-8, 4-5 SAC) to nine-straight this decade against the Pioneers (18-1, 8-1 SAC) and marks the end of a two-match winning streak for C-N.
"We battled today," head coach Jean Love said of her team. "The final score does not reflect the competitiveness of the matches. We can take away some confidence in the fact that we can compete at a high level."
The top-seeded pair of senior Jill Corsato-Owsianka (Düesseldorf, Germany) and freshman Abby Reis (Des Moines, IA.) faced Tusculum's twin sister duo of Annie and Caitlin McCullough but were unsuccessful, falling 8-5.
Ali Harris (Crossville, Tenn.) and Alisa Liashova (Ukraine) teamed up at the No. 2 spot to face Franziska Funke and Katarina Majorova and lost a close 8-6 contest. Mirroring the score at the No. 3 position was senior Mallory Jackson (Erwin, Tenn.) and freshman Hannah Price (Knoxville, Tenn.) who fell to Africa Mota and Amber Lackey, 8-6, putting the Pioneers up 3-0 heading into singles action.
Corsato-Owsianka fell in her first set against Funke, 6-3, before stomping back with a 7-6 win in the second to force a third-set tiebreaker. Funke took the final set in the top-seeded match, 6-1.
Competing at the No. 2 spot, Reis fell in straight sets to Annie McCullough, 6-3 and 6-1, putting the Pioneers up 5-0 to cement their win.
Another three-set tiebreaking match was had at the No. 3 spot with Caitlin McCullough edging past Price in the first set 7-5 before Price took the second set 6-3. In the third set, McCullough was the winner of a 6-2 decision.
Fourth-seeded Liashova fell in a close 7-6 first set decision to Angelica DeVincenzis before dropping the second set, 6-3.
Jackson fell to Mota 8-7 at the No. 5 spot with senior Sydney Ledington (Corbin, Ky.) losing to Julia Lopez at the sixth-seeded position, 8-3.
Carson-Newman now prepares for a trip to No. 37 Queens for the regular season finale. That match against the Royals will begin at 1 p.m. on Saturday from the Queens Sports Complex.
