Women’s Tennis falls short of LMU in 4-2 loss
The loss snaps a three-match winning streak to send the Eagles into their final regular-season match.
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The loss snaps a three-match winning streak to send the Eagles into their final regular-season match.
It was a tough fight for both teams that looked like it might go either way at any given time. Ultimately, LMU got the better of C-N, moving the Eagles to 9-10 on the season and 5-5 in SAC play.
"I'm really proud of our girls fight. I'm really proud of how they stuck together and they were all in this together," said head coach Nate Gangelhoff. "We have we have 12 amazing players on our team and you could hear all 12 of them cheer and support one another and that was on display today."
The Eagles went down early after doubles. Hala Awad and Abinaya Sweeton were bested on court one 6-4, and Mar Fraile and Leah McBride narrowly lost 7-5. Kira Baacke and Maria del Mar Sarda Marti were winning 5-4 at second doubles when the clinch of the point occurred.
"When we look back there's moments where we can this match could have flipped in the total opposite direction," said Gangelhoff. " We're so close to finishing matches and, you know, maybe a little bit earlier those points could have been won on our side."
In usual fashion, #49 Hala Awad dropped a 6-1, 6-3 win on the Railsplitters number one Adriana Pellizzari. The senior is now 11-1 on the season and is undefeated in SAC play with a perfect 7-0 record.
LMU took the lead back in the team score when Leah McBride dropped a 6-1, 6-1 decision at fifth singles.
Luckily, Maria del Mar Sarda Marti tied it back up with a 6-2, 6-2 win at third singles. The senior is now 7-5 in her singles matches this season.
Then, Sindija Manovska fell at sixth singles 77-64, 6-3 to put LMU up 3-2.
Kira Baacke at fourth singles and Kerrigan Spiers at two were the last two on court, and both in long taxing matches. Both players has battled to a third set after losing the first. Baacke had an opportunity to hit a few tiebreakers, but they ultimately all fell the way of LMU. Baacke fell 6-4, 3-6, 7-5.
Spiers' match went unfinished. The freshman had worked both the first two sets to 12 games, falling 7-5 in the first and winning by that same score in the second. Spiers was up 4-1 in the final set when the final point was hit by LMU.
So, the Eagles fall to 8-9 in the all-time series against the Railsplitters. They line up for one final regular-season match against #27 Newberry, hosted in Mossy Creek, before the SAC tournament.
Currently, the Eagles' 5-5 record has them tied at 7th in the SAC standings with UVA Wise, who they would lose the tiebreaker with, thanks to the head-to-head loss.
"Hopefully when we play Newberry Saturday, we have the confidence and we play our game," said Gangelhoff.
First serve against the Wolves will be after the men's match, which is scheduled for 11:00 AM on Saturday. For updates, follow @CN_Eagles on X and Instagram, or Carson-Newman Athletics on Facebook. Full coverage is also available at cneagles.com.
