HARROGATE, Tenn. – For the first time in 2022, Carson-Newman women's tennis can notch one in the win column after taking down fellow Division II foe, Young Harris, on Friday. It was a clean sweep by the Eagles as they left the LMU Indoor Tennis Facility with a resounding 7-0 victory to sit at .500 for their early 2022 campaign.
Friday also marked the first time Young Harris (2-1, 0-0 PBC) had suffered a loss in the early stages of 2022 as well as the second consecutive victory for C-N women's tennis (1-1, 0-0 SAC) over the Mountain Lions.
The afternoon got started off with doubles action as the Eagles looked to rebound after dropping a heartbreaker to North Georgia last weekend. C-N came out firing as they would sweep all three doubles matches and hold the early 1-0 advantage on the scoreboard.
In number one doubles, the pair of graduate student Hannah Price (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Natasha Forrest (Jersey, United Kingdom) got things rolling as they picked up the 6-3 victory over their YHC opponents. Then, C-N kept it going in number two doubles as senior Ana Carla Resende (Minas Gerais, Brazil) and junior Anita Chornei (Kyiv, Ukraine) were paired up as they took home a 6-2 win and secured the doubles point for the Eagles. Finally, the duo of Violetta Khisamova (Yaroslavl, Russia) and Julia Speiser were in action from number three doubles as they finished off the doubles sweep with a 6-4 result.
"Girls dominated from beginning to the end. Tash and Hannah didn't have their best matches skill wise, but still found a way to come through and win," graduate coach Gabriel Dabdab said.
As singles play started, the Eagles had no trouble continuing their momentum and winning every single matchup by a comfortable margin, except one.
Ana Carla Resende, one of the top preseason singles players in DII tennis, got back on the right track as she picked up her first win of 2022 with a 6-3, 6-0 result at number one singles. This came after a shocking upset loss at the hands of UNG last Sunday to open up the 2022 spring season.
Violetta Khisamova was also able to join the winning side of 2022 as she took home a dominating 6-3, 6-1 result from number two singles. Soon after, Natasha Forrest kept the two-set sweeps rolling for C-N as she won her second straight singles match of 2022, this time by a score of 6-3, 6-4 from number four singles.
Then, Anita Chornei compiled another victory for the Eagles as she was victorious 6-3, 6-2 while playing number five singles. Finally, Julia Speiser wrapped up a perfect 2-0 day for herself from number six singles as she would be the 6-1, 6-2 winner and finish off a perfect Friday for the Carson-Newman women's tennis program.
The only "close" Eagles matchup came when Hannah Price saw her number three singles match go all three sets, but she was able to muster enough courage to pull out the victory. Price came away with a 6-7, 6-4, 11-9 thriller of a victory as she and the rest of the Eagles celebrate gaining win number one this spring.
Carson-Newman women's tennis will be back in action tomorrow as they face off with the Lees-McRae Bobcats for the first time since 2011 on Saturday. The Eagles and Bobcats square off with first serve scheduled for 2:00 p.m. from the Knoxville Racquet Club.
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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