SUMTER, S.C.- It was semifinals Friday for 16th-ranked Carson-Newman women's tennis as they would try to advance one day further to Saturday's SAC Championships final. In the way of the Orange and Blue would be a familiar foe in the Wingate Bulldogs, looking to end the magic for C-N and claim a spot in Saturday's final for themselves.
This is the first time C-N has appeared in back-to-back SAC Women's Tennis semifinals since the 2008 and 2009 seasons, both which ended with a spot in the eventual tournament final.
After falling behind early on, Wingate regained their composure and took control in singles en route to a 4-3 final and a chance to play Queens (N.C.) on Saturday for the 2022 SAC Women's Tennis Championship.
"I know the girls are disappointed with how the match ended, but we've had one heck of a season as we truly are the number 16 team in the country for a reason," head coach Jim Frederick said. "This team has grown immensely from where we were four years ago and as we told them last season, they deserve to be in a spot like today every year."
As both sides fought to be the first to four points, it all started with the valuable doubles point on the table, as C-N stormed ahead early as they took two out of three results and the 1-0 advantage.
In number one doubles, Hannah Price (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Natasha Forrest (Jersey, United Kingdom) battled their way to a 4-5 margin before their match was called short due to the point being decided.
The first official doubles match to conclude on Friday would be in number two as C-N's Ana Carla Resende (Minas Gerais, Brazil) and Summer Reeves (Maidstone, Kent, England). The duo looked strong from the beginning as they took a 4-1 lead at one point in the match before Wingate looked to climb back into the action. However, C-N shut the door on any comeback chance as they claimed a 6-2 win.
Finally, Violetta Khisamova (Yaroslavl, Russia) and Julia Speiser were in action at number three doubles for the Eagles. As their match yesterday was cut short, Friday would be a different story as they held an early 4-1 margin as well before Wingate stormed back to make it tight. However, when the match was 5-3, that is when C-N kicked it into overdrive and left no doubt, officially winning 6-3 and giving C-N the much-needed doubles point.
Moving into singles play behind, C-N held all the early momentum, but the sides would seemingly go back-and-forth as neither side could pull away and it all came down to one match final.
First, in number three singles, C-N would go ahead 2-0 thanks to the efforts of sophomore Violetta Khisamova. The Russia native would gain the first set 6-2 and look to close it out in the two-set minimum. From there, C-N gained their second point as Khisamova would win 6-3 in set no. two.
However, the eager Eagles would soon see the furious Bulldogs storm back and even the score after winning at flights two and four. First, Summer Reeves went against WU's Chloe Kosmrlj in number two as she would fall 6-2, 6-3, allowing Wingate to get their first point on the afternoon.
Then, the Bulldogs pulled even with the Eagles after Alex Lopez raged a furious comeback against Hannah Price in set one, winning 6-4. Then, in set number two, Lopez wasted little time to give the momentum shift back to WU with a 6-2 decision and win in the set.
The Bulldogs then went ahead for the first time in the afternoon after Suzuka Sambyakugari rattled home the third straight decision win for WU at number six singles. Facing off with Anita Chornei (Kyiv, Ukraine), the Bulldog freshman was in prime position after winning the first set 6-2. She would repeat her success in set two, winning by the same score, and moving Wingate one match closer to Championship Saturday.
"Plain and simple, in a match like today, you cannot win if you lose at number four, five, and six," Frederick said.
Number one singles saw senior Ana Carla Resende called upon to regain some energy for the Eagles. As they trailed 3-2 overall, Resende would end up going to a first set tiebreaker against WU's Camilla Ciaccia. In the first set, it would be 7-6 (7-3) for the Brazil native as she was only set away from forcing the decisive match between the two. Well, lady luck was on her side, as in set two, Resende was in prime shape as she pulled out a 6-2 win and made it 3-3, as only number five singles was left in action.
In number five, C-N placed junior Natasha Forrest against Wingate's Flaminia Guidantoni. After winning the first set 6-3, Forrest would drop set two 2-6. She then proceeded to step out and rehydrate herself after playing in blistering heat of Sumter for the first two sets. Well, as she came back and started having the full support of both men's and women's programs for C-N, it would not be merely enough as she dropped set three 1-6. This allowed Wingate to move onto Saturday and set up a battle of the top two seeds in the finals.
The Eagles will await their fate for the upcoming 2022 NCAA Southeast Regionals as they currently sit in seventh for the latest rankings. The official NCAA regionals announcement will come the evening of May 3 at 8:30 p.m. via NCAA.com.
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