Eagles send Resende to ITA Cup
ROME, Ga. – Senior Ana Carla Resende (Minas Gerais, Brazil) has claimed a spot in the 2021 ITA Cup to take place from Rome, Georgia this weekend.
ROME, Ga. – Senior Ana Carla Resende (Minas Gerais, Brazil) has claimed a spot in the 2021 ITA Cup to take place from Rome, Georgia this weekend. The event will last from October 14 through the 17 from the Rome Tennis Center as participants from the Division II, Division III, NAIA and junior college ranks will be in action.
Resende was awarded an at-large selection into this year's tournament after her efforts for CNWT in the ITA Southeast Regional Qualifiers from September 24-27 in Sumter, South Carolina. This is the first time an Eagle tennis player has been awarded a place in the tournament under head coach Jim Frederick.
Resende will begin action in the ITA Cup against Taylor Leslie from Dallas Baptist on Thursday at 12:00 p.m. from the Rome Tennis Center. Leslie comes in as an at-large selection as well after making it to the finals of her ITA Regional before falling to Maria Garcia of Saint Mary's.
Leslie will be the second DBU tennis player to receive a bid to nationals after entering the selection process with a 9-1 record in tournament and dual matches.
Meanwhile, Resende made it to the finals of the ITA Southeast Regionals where she would face Luis Hrda. Leading up to the finals, Resende had not dropped a single set of action, but the same could be said for Hrda. To start their finals matchup, Resende would fall behind 4-0 in the first set but battled back to win three straight games before Hrda wrapped up the first set, winning 6-3.
In the second set, Resende found herself down 4-0 once more but she clawed her way back before Hrda held a 5-2 advantage and had three match points in her favor. However, Resende pushed away any chance of the match ending that early as she battled back to take the 6-5 lead and close in forcing a decisive third set.
"Ana Carla got down 4-0 in both sets today but battled back to win three straight games. She had a point to tie and lost it," head coach Jim Frederick said. "In the second set, she fought off two match points at 5-2 down before getting it back to leading 6-5. She pulled a hamstring in the first set and battled through it the rest of the match."
Resende would continue fighting in order to force a decisive third set, but Hrda was able to come back and claim the 7-6 (3) result in the second set and be declared the Southeast Regional winner for women's singles.
Her second-place finish is the highest Ana Carla has ever gotten at the ITAs as her last appearance for the Eagles at the ITAs in 2019 ended in consolation bracket action.
The selection process for the 2021 ITA Cup includes eight automatic qualifiers and eight at-large selections across the eight regional championships. Each singles and doubles champions for each regional championships received automatic bids to the ITA Cup.
The at-large selections were compromised of four selections from the pool of regional finalists. The four finalists with the highest national ranking from the previous year will be first selections for at-large spots. If no national rankings exist for four regional finalists, then the selection is made by quality wins, such as strength of regional draw and nationally ranked wins from regional tournament.
Be sure to follow the action via the links provided and follow all things Carson-Newman women's tennis at cneagles.com and via all C-N Athletics social media platforms.
