SUMTER, S.C. – Led by the efforts of Ana Carla Resende, Natasha Forrest, and Hannah Price, Carson-Newman women's tennis see mixed results after two days of action at the International Tennis Association Southeast Regional qualifiers in Sumter, South Carolina.
Senior Ana Carla Resende (Minas Gerais, Brazil) came into the ITA Southeast Regional as a 3rd-seeded singles player. After bypassing the first round of 132 Friday, Resende would be able to come out and defeat Frankee Hendricks in the round of 64 Friday night.
This allowed Resende to advance to Saturday's round of 32 against Hanna Axelsson. Resende was able to prove her seeding as she continued her winning ways with a 6-3, 6-2 victory and securing a spot in the round of 16 Sunday afternoon against 9th-seeded Ebba Rosberg.
Junior Natasha Forrest (Jersey, United Kingdom) found a spot in the women's singles consolation bracket on Saturday. Her first matchup of Saturday was Bailee Wilson. Forrest won the matchup against Wilson by a 6-3, 6-1 decision. With her win, she moved on to face Czarina Aguirre Saturday night. In the nighttime match, Forrest continued her winning ways as she advanced by a result of 6-1, 6-3.
Forrest's next opponent is Emilie Hansen as the two square off in the consolation round of 16.
Graduate student Hannah Price (Knoxville, Tenn.) came into the ITA Southeast Regional as a 16th-seeded singles player. After bypassing the round of 132, she was defeated by Ishita Singh which placed Price in the consolation bracket come Saturday.
When action began on Saturday, the Knoxville native went up against Lauren Castillon Saturday night. Price claimed a 6-0, 6-1 victory to play again later that night. Her next round opponent would be Laura Jipescu. Once the match was schedule to happen, it was Price claiming a walk-over win as Jipescu was deemed as injured.
Price will now face Claudelle Labonte-Frey in the consolation round of 16 Sunday in hopes to keeping her winning ways alive and making her mark known at the tournament.
Sophomore Violetta Khisamova (Yaroslavl, Russia) saw Saturday action against 9th-seeded Emma Bentz in the round of 64. Despite coming into the match on a two-match win streak, it was Bentz claiming a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Khisamova and advancing to play on Sunday.
Sophomore Julia Speiser was in consolation bracket action on Saturday after losing in the round of 132 Friday. Her first Saturday opponent would be Nele Weber, as Speiser came away with the 6-4, 5-7 (10-2) victory over Weber and advancing to play Emilie Hansen Saturday night.
In the Saturday nightcap, it was Hansen claiming the win over Speiser by a 6-2, 6-3 decision and keeping her singles play alive for the ITAs.
The last Eagle in singles competition was sophomore Summer Reeves (Maidstone, Kent, England). After seeing a spot in the consolation bracket after Friday's results, Reeves went head-to-head against Paulina Loretz early Saturday night.
Loretz claimed the 3-6, 6-4 [10-6] decision to end Reeves's time in singles for the ITAs and claim herself a spot against Angelina Linnikova in the next round.
Saturday also saw some Eagle pairings active in doubles play as well to start the day. Coming off an impressive end to the 2020-21 season, the pairing of Natasha Forrest and Hannah Price came into the ITAs as a 9th-seeded pairing. After bypassing the first round of action on Friday, the duo made their fall debut against Jipescu and Ascarrunz Saturday morning.
Forrest and Price claimed a dominating 8-5 win and a spot in the next round against Axelsson and Veselinova. In a highly competitive match, the Eagles came out on top again as Price and Forrest claimed a 9-7 victory and continued their winning ways. However, their streak would meet an abrupt end as the duo of Chamoun and Spice defeated Forrest and Price 8-6 on Sunday morning to end the pairing's time in Sumter.
The first Eagles pairing was Summer Reeves and Julia Speiser who came into Saturday after winning their first-round matchup on Friday. Reeves and Speiser would face the 9th-seeded pairing of Mikael and Wise Saturday morning as the opponent claimed a spot in the next round after winning 8-5.
The final Eagles double pairing in action on Saturday was the duo of Ana Carla Resende and freshman Maria Ulloa (Cuba). In their second match together, the Eagles were unable to overcome the 5th-seeded opponent of Ciaccia and Gunfaus as they won 8-3 and ended the Eagles time in Sumter after only two matches.
Be sure to keep up with the C-N women's tennis team all season long across Carson-Newman's social media platforms and on cneagles.com
