Catawba's comeback falls short as advantageous Eagles win
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Despite an opposition resurgence in singles play, Carson-Newman held on late as the Eagles defeated the visiting Catawba College Catawba Indians, 5-4, in a Friday afternoon South Atlantic Conference matchup at the Buddy Catlett Tennis Complex.
VIDEO: Jean Love Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Despite a comeback in singles play, Carson-Newman held on late as the Eagles defeated the visiting Catawba College Catawba Indians, 5-4, in a Friday afternoon South Atlantic Conference matchup at the Buddy Catlett Tennis Complex.
The win marks four-straight for Carson-Newman (6-7, 3-4 SAC) against Catawba. The Eagles still lead the series this decade, 6-3.
With the C-N victory, Catawba (3-10, 0-7 SAC) has now lost seven consecutive matches, forcing the Catawba Indians to remain at the bottom of the SAC standings.
"I wasn't really impressed by our play today other than we won," head coach Jean Love said. "We're just really inconsistent, so that's kind of where it's at right now.
"How we won today, I don't know other than we fought, we were inconsistent. We would play a few games well then we would play a few games poorly."
Teaming up for the first time since March 15, Klara Vuckovic (Germany) and Alisa Liashova (Ukraine) started the day by taking a dominant 8-1 victory over Emily Corcoran and Kristen Rocko at the third-spot. The win marks the first for the duo since Feb. 24.
Mallory Jackson (Erwin, Tenn.) and Ali Harris (Crossville, Tenn.) joined forces at the No. 2 spot with a commanding 8-3 win over Sophie Hirsch and Isabel Benoit, marking the Catawba duo's ninth-straight loss. The win gave C-N's pair its third consecutive victory.
The top-seeded tandem of Jill Corsato-Owsianka (Düesseldorf, Germany) and Abby Reis (Des Moines, IA.) fell to Erisa Onchi and Olivia Woolridge in an 8-6 advantage, cutting C-N's lead heading into the second half of the day to 2-1. The loss brings the duo's three-match winning streak to an end.
Harris began singles play with a straight-set loss at the No. 1 position to Onchi, 6-0, 6-3. Jackson followed suit as the fifth-seeded Eagle as she was defeated in a pair of 6-3 sets by Corcoran, giving the Indians a 3-2 lead.
Liashova began the turnaround for the Eagles at the No. 6 spot, taking 7-5 and 6-0 sets over Kirsten Saltus followed by a No. 4 match that saw Hannah Price (Knoxville, Tenn.) take back-to-back 6-1 sets over Rocko. The victories pushed the Eagles back in control, 4-3.
SAC Player of the Week Corsato-Owsianka faced Hirsch in the second-seeded dual as the senior won her sets, 6-3 and 7-6, notching the fifth win for the Eagles on the day.
Reis and Woolridge battled in the third-spot match with Reis winning the first match 7-6. Woolridge answered in the second with a 6-3 victory of her own before closing the third set on top, 6-4.
The Eagles will spend a few days away from outside competition as they prepare for back-to-back days of action late next week, as they hit the road for a Thursday meeting with the Mountain Lions of Mars Hill. That match on April 5 will begin at 1 p.m. at the Hart Tennis Complex.
