Awad garners first player of the week honors for women’s tennis in four years
The conference office announced the senior as the WePlayed Tennis player of the week after an undefeated three-match stretch in both singles and doubles.
ROCK HILL, S.C. – The conference office announced the senior as the WePlayed Tennis player of the week after an undefeated three-match stretch in both singles and doubles.
Hala Awad has been cruising in her matches this season, and was especially dominant this past week. The Egyptian went 6-0 over doubles and singles in the three matches for C-N. She has now won her last five singles matches and her last three doubles matches straight.
"Hala is more than deserving of this award as she has proven her talent over and over again," said head coach Nate Gangelhoff. "She isn't done yet."
The Eagles started off the week with a sweep of Emory & Henry. The senior and her doubles partner Abinaya Sweeton grabbed a 6-3 victory over Olivia Pursley and Tahnne Sesma at first doubles before only giving up one game to Pursley at first singles. This was en route to C-N's second conference victory of the season.
The fun didn't stop there for Awad. In the next match against #34 Anderson, she and Sweeton helped the Eagles grab the doubles point with a 6-3 win at the first line before easing her way to a 6-3, 6-1 win against Alex Braithwaite at the top of the lineup.
She rounded out her great week with a ranked victory. Against #9 Wingate, Sweeton and Awad were the only pair to win for C-N with a 6-4 decision over Anastasiia Oktiabreva and Kaniela Kotara. The real impressive win, though, came in singles. Awad handed the #34 player in the nation a 7-5, 6-4 loss. With that win, the senior is 8-1 on the year over her singles matches and 7-5 in her doubles matches.
She is the first player for Carson-Newman Women's Tennis to earn a weekly honor since Hannah Price in 2022.
Awad had already bested her singles record from last season where she was 7-1-5. She needs just one more doubles win to surmount her doubles record.
The Eagles are scheduled to line up against the #43 Lee Flames Tuesday, March 31 at 2:00 PM in Jefferson City where you can watch the player of the week likely face the #20 player in the nation Rima Yoshisa. For updates, follow @CN_Eagles on X and Instagram, or check cneagles.com for full coverage.
