Eagles receive ITA ranking for first time in over a decade
For the first time in over a decade, Carson-Newman women’s tennis was announced as one of the top 50 programs in all of Divison II tennis Wednesday after a successful completion to the 2021 season.
ITA Division II singles rankings
TEMPE, Ariz. – For the first time in over a decade, Carson-Newman women's tennis was announced as one of the top 50 programs in all of Divison II tennis Wednesday after a successful completion to the 2021 season. Carson-Newman comes in at tied for 37th overall alongside fellow SAC foe Tusculum and the Slippery Rock University of PA.
The Lady Eagles finished the 2021 spring season with their first SAC Tournament semifinals appearance since 2009. In the regular season, the Eagles were led by junior Ana Carla Resende (Minas Gerais, Brazil) who finished her junior year with an overall record of 15-4, including a 11-1 record against her SAC opponents. After the completion of another successful year in Mossy Creek, Resende was tabbed as the #43 singles player in all of Division II women's tennis.
Resende joins Tusculum's Annie McCullough (#27), Queen (N.C.)'s Yana Fleyer (#30), and Wingate's Elena Bompieri (#49) as the other South Atlantic Conference women's singles players to be ranked in the top 50 for the week of May 7.
Resende only suffered one singles loss in 2021, which came against Wingate on March 27. However, Resende redeemed herself during C-N's SAC Tournament run as she was the only Eagle to claim victory in the 2021 SAC semifinals.
Carson-Newman is one of four total teams representing the South Atlantic Conference in the Division II team rankings for the week of May 7. Wingate is 13th, Queens (N.C.) is 22nd, and Tusculum is tied for 37th alongside C-N and Slippery Rock of PA.
The Orange and Blue have been able to secure a spot in the SAC Women's Tennis Tournament in each of the last three seasons as the 2021 season marked the furthest C-N has made in tournament action since winning the tournament title in 2009.
Resende, with her 15 singles victories in 2021, was able to set herself into third place all-time for CNWT single season victories while setting a new career high for single-season singles wins. Resende was joined in the "career high" club by senior teammate Hannah Price (Knoxville, Tenn.) who saw action primarily from number three singles and was able to gather 13 total wins, which topped her previous career high of 10 from the 2018 season.
Price was also part of C-N's team leading doubles pairing with sophomore Natasha Forrest (Jersey, United Kingdom). Together, the pair compiled tied the program record with 15 wins to go along with four losses. In SAC play, the Eagles duo finished 10-2 which included two wins over ranked opponents in Queens and Wingate while suffering losses to Anderson and Tusculum.
Head coach Jim Frederick and the Eagles finished the season on April 16th and will be back in action in the Fall of 2021.
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