HARROGATE, Tenn. – As they returned to South Atlantic Conference matches, Carson-Newman (6-4, 2-2 SAC) could not defeat the Lincoln Memorial Railsplitters (4-5, 3-3 SAC) Wednesday. With the win, LMU has claimed two straight matchups over C-N from Harrogate and moves to .500 in SAC matches on the season. The Railsplitters defend home court and take the 4-3 victory, while handing C-N their second straight SAC loss.
This is the third straight matchup between C-N and LMU that has ended in a 4-3 result, with LMU winning two out of the last three from Harrogate.
Heading into Wednesday's match, senior Hannah Price (Knoxville, Tenn.) led the way for C-N with an 8-1 record at number three singles. In doubles, Price and sophomore Natasha Forrest (Jersey, United Kingdom) held the team leading doubles record of 7-2. Price was not able to gain her ninth victory on Wednesday, but did move her and Forrest to 8-2 in doubles as the number two pairing for Carson-Newman in 2021. As for LMU, Valentina Ascarrunz leads the Railsplitters with a 5-1 record in 2021. Doubles play is all about Ascarrunz and Johanna Delisse who are 4-2 as the number one doubles pairing.
Wednesday was a battle of momentum and came down to the very last match on the court. LMU freshman Mae Fitzgerald was the hero for LMU as she claimed the 7-5, 7-6 victory at number six singles and helped LMU defend home court and move to .500 on the season in SAC matches.
The match was all Eagles out of the gate as C-N swept all three doubles matches to gain the match's first point but saw LMU storm back as singles action began. Number three singles saw Price suffer a rare falter as she moved to 8-2 on the season after losing 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 to LMU's Ascarrunz. LMU also had a strong showing in number four singles as Dahlstrom won 6-1, 6-4 over freshman Summer Reeves (Maidstone, Kent, England).
The Eagles, however, were able to claim the match lead of 3-2 before LMU stormed themselves back to win the final two matches. LMU's Vogel was set in the number five singles position, where she defeated Forrest by a score of 6-3, 6-3 to set up the deciding match from number six singles.
Junior Ana Carla Resende (Minas Gerais, Brazil) now holds a 7-3 record as number one singles in 2021. For her Eagles career, Resende moves to 26-7 all-time after claiming another strong victory for C-N from her beloved number one singles slot. She was victorious over Delisse of LMU by a score of 6-2, 6-0. The only other singles victory for C-N came from freshman Violetta Khisamova (Yaroslavl, Russia) who walked away the winner 6-4, 6-1 in number two singles action.
The Eagles return to the Buddy Catlett Tennis Complex this weekend for a pair of matches as they host the Lenoir-Rhyne Bears on Saturday before having the Newberry Wolves pay Mossy Creek a visit on Sunday.
Be sure to keep up with all things Carson-Newman women's tennis at cneagles.com and via all social media accounts.
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