SUMTER, S.C. – For the first time in program history, Carson-Newman (13-7) made it to the SAC Women's Tennis Tournament semifinals Friday morning. Their opponent was none other than the number one overall seed and regular-season conference champs, the Wingate Bulldogs (15-1). Although they started off with some stumbles, C-N fought to keep it close in every match but Wingate walked away Friday with the 4-1 victory and a spot in tomorrow's 2021 SAC Women's Tennis Tournament Championship against the Queens (N.C.) Royals.
"We've had an amazing season and I'm proud of this team," senior Hannah Price said. "I know both this team along with the men's side will continue growing and get stronger in the years to come."
In a 4-0 victory Thursday in the SAC Quarterfinals against Limestone, C-N came out of the gate swinging and captured all the momentum, starting with doubles. However, Friday was a different story as they were unable to claim any doubles matches as the Bulldogs swept number two and three doubles action and gained the early 1-0 match advantage.
In number two doubles, the pairing of sophomore Natasha Forrest (Jersey, United Kingdom) and senior Hannah Price (Knoxville, Tenn.) were handed the 6-2 defeat. The All-SAC second-team doubles team has been a huge uplifter for C-N when it came to doubles play this season. Together, the duo collected a 15-4 record overall and went 10-3 against SAC opponents. With their total of 15 wins, Price and Forrest tied the school record for single-season doubles victories with Patricia Guerrerio and Jennifer Ott in 2015.
Meanwhile, the only other doubles match to see full completion on Friday came from the number three position. For C-N, their feisty freshman duo of Julia Speiser and Summer Reeves (Maidstone, Kent, England) saw the same result as Price and Forrest, falling 6-2 to their Wingate opponents. For their first year in Mossy Creek, the pair was able to compile the second-best doubles record on the team as they went 12-6 overall and 7-5 in SAC competition. The duo also came into Friday with a three-match winning streak as a pair, which was tied for the team lead in that category with number one singles.
The number one singles pair of senior Abby Reis (Des Moines, IA.) and junior Ana Carla Resende (Minas Gerais, Brazil) were in action against Camilla Ciaccia and Elena Gunafus of Wingate, but the match was cut short and deemed "unfinished" with Wingate leading 5-4 due to the point already being decided in the other matches.
Moving into singles play trailing 1-0, C-N knew it had to continue putting every ounce of effort into winning each point. Wingate would build their lead to 2-0 after All-SAC first-team singles selection Elena Gunafus defeated C-N's Price in straight sets 6-4, 6-4 from number three singles. Price finishes her 2021 season with a 13-7 overall record in singles with a 7-6 mark against SAC opponents.
Wingate continued their success and kept the momentum as Georgina Wood pushed the Bulldogs to a 3-0 match lead with a 6-1, 6-1 sweep from number four singles over Summer Reeves of C-N. Reeves finishes her 2021 regular season and SAC Tournament time with a 10-8 record (6-5 SAC) in singles and a 12-6 overall (6-5 SAC) record in doubles.
With the Bulldogs now one singles win away from claiming the entire match, the pressure was on the remaining quartet of Eagles left to finish, including the number 46 women's tennis player in Division II in Ana Carla Resende of C-N. In her rematch with fellow All-SAC first-team singles selection, Resende faced a tall task in the number 41 player in DII women's tennis, Elena Bompieri of Wingate. Bompieri was the only SAC player to defeat Resende in the regular season, and Resende wanted some payback. In the rematch of All-SAC first-team singles selections on Friday, it was Bompieri claiming the upper hand with a first set win by a score of 7-5. After that, Resende took control of the match and gave C-N its first match point after claiming the final two sets over Bompieri by a 6-4 result. This is Resende's 15th singles victory on the year and 12th against SAC opponents. The win also trimmed the Wingate lead to 3-1 with the remaining matches still in action.
In number six singles, C-N freshman Speiser looked to overcome Riann Hsu of Wingate to claim another point for the Eagles. However, Rsu was just too good as she claimed the 6-3, 7(7)- 6(5) victory to give Wingate their fourth match point and the overall victory. Wingate will advance to play the #2 seeded Queens Royals on Saturday in the 2021 SAC Women's Tennis Tournament Championship.
Although Resende was the one who officially put C-N on the scoreboard, it was sophomore Natasha Forrest who gave C-N its first set victory on the day. In her matchup against Flaminia Guidantoni of Wingate, Forrest won the first set 6-2 before losing the second set 6-4 and seeing the match going the full three sets. As the third set was set to begin, the matchup from number five singles was deemed "unfinished" as the overall match had already been decided.
The Eagles also saw another first-set go their way in number two singles by freshman Violetta Khisamova (Yaroslavl, Russia) notching a 6-3 win in the first set over Camilla Ciaccia of Wingate. Ciaccia was an All-SAC second-team singles selection. Wingate claimed the second set with Ciaccia dominated Khisamova and taking a 6-1 decision and setting up the third third-set decider between the programs which was called off due to the match being decided already in favor of Wingate.
As the 2021 regular season and SAC tournament comes to an end for the Eagles, we take a moment to look back on the careers of two outstanding Eagles both on and off the courts. First, senior Alisa Liashova (Ukraine) joined the team in 2017 and has been an integral part on the team every year she has been here. Throughout her playing career, Liashova has amassed an overall singles record of 31-31 with matches from every position except for the number one spot. Her highest season win total for singles came in 2018 as she went 10-6 that year playing matches from number four, five, and six singles. As for doubles, Liashova sees a career record of 30-31 to her name including a career high 13 wins in 2017 from number two doubles.
Liashova finished the 2021 regular season to end her last season with the sixth most wins in CNWT history in singles action with 31. Her .500 career singles winning percentage places her in the top-10 for the category in program history. Liashova is also in the top-10 for most career doubles wins in CNWT history with 30 from 2017-21.
The other senior to be recognized is Abby Reis. Reis came to be apart of the program in the 2018 season and has made every moment count since she arrived. In her four years as an Eagle, the Iowa native has compiled a 13-25 career record in singles (playing every position except number one or four) including a perfect 2-0 this season. Her second win of 2021 was the game-winner in C-N's massive upset of #18 Queens on April 3. For her doubles career, Reis has gone 31-28 with her season high for wins coming this year alongside Resende as the duo has gone 11-8. Reis has played doubles for C-N in either number one or two doubles, but has not seen any matches from number three.
Her 31 career doubles wins places Reis as seventh in CNWT history in the category. Reis has also collected a .525 winning percentage in doubles which is also sufficient enough for a top-10 spot in CNWT history.
The Eagles will finish 13-7 overall and 8-4 in SAC competition after the 2021 regular season with another appearance in the SAC Women's Tennis Tournament to their name. The 13 wins in 2021 are the most for an Eagles squad since the 2015-16 season when C-N finished 14-6 on the year. As for next year, the ladies will see the majority of this year's team returning as they look to maintain a top place in the SAC and to return to the SAC Semifinals once again.
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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