Trio of Eagles tabbed with All-SAC laurels
ROCK HILL, S.C. – Ahead of their fifth straight trip to the SAC women’s tennis Championships, 17th-ranked Carson-Newman women’s tennis is tabbed with a trio of All-SAC honors
ROCK HILL, S.C. – Ahead of their fifth straight trip to the SAC women's tennis Championships, 17th-ranked Carson-Newman women's tennis is tabbed with a trio of All-SAC honors as announced by the South Atlantic Conference Wednesday.
Senior Ana Carla Resende (Minas Gerais, Brazil) was awarded a spot on the All-SAC first team singles squad for the third time in her Eagles career. Meanwhile, sophomore Violetta Khisamova (Yaroslavl, Russia) is tabbed with third-team honors for the first time in her career. Finally, Resende and sophomore Summer Reeves were awarded All-SAC second team doubles honors.
Resende has primarily been the number one singles player for C-N during her time on the banks of Mossy Creek. In 2022, the Brazil native has held down the number one singles slot for her fourth season as an Eagle, coming into the SAC Tournament tied for the team lead with 15 regular season wins (15-4). Of her 15-4 record, the Brazil native has gone 9-2 in SAC play.
Also, Ana Carla made history to start her season with an appearance in the 2021 ITA Cup, making it all the way to the tournament's semifinals. This led the senior to a spot as one of the nation's top four singles players in DII tennis, while also garnering Resende a national top-10 placement. Since then, she has maintained a spot in the ITA top 50 for the majority of the spring season.
Joining Resende on the All-SAC first team singles squad is Zulay Castaneda of Newberry, the 2022 SAC Player of the Year; Camilla Ciaccia of Wingate; Viktorija Veselinova of Queens (N.C.); Jill Morse of Queens (N.C.), and Catherine Blouin of Anderson, the 2022 SAC Freshman of the Year.
Meanwhile, for the first time in her Carson-Newman career, sophomore Violetta Khisamova claimed all-conference honors. In her second year in Mossy Creek, the Russia native has been the primary number three singles player for CNWT. After starting the season off at number two, the Russia native was moved down one slot and would see a 9-4 mark in number three action, including 9-3 against SAC programs.
Of her nine conference wins, a trio came against nationally-ranked Lincoln Memorial, Lenoir-Rhyne, and Wingate.
Joining the sophomore on the All-SAC third team are Anamaria Kiszner-Luca of Limestone, Hanna Axelsson of Queens (N.C.), Valentina Ascarrunz of Lincoln Memorial, Evgeniya Pugina of Lenoir-Rhyne, and Julia Valls of Lincoln Memorial.
The pairing of Resende and Summer Reeves was nearly untouchable in 2022, as they finished with a mark of 10-1 against SAC foes and 14-3 overall while playing the number two doubles flight. Their lone conference loss came on April 2 against the Wingate Bulldogs. Of their 10 conference wins, half of them came against ranked opponents as they would be victorious over Lincoln Memorial, Lenoir-Rhyne, Newberry, Queens (N.C.), and Anderson.
Resende and Reeves are joined on the All-SAC second team by Gemma Southwick and Lucy Whelan of Lenoir-Rhyne and the duo of Chloe Kosmrlj and Alex Lopez from Wingate.
Resende, Khisamova, and Reeves along with the rest of 17th-ranked Carson-Newman women's tennis will be action against Anderson Thursday as they begin the 2022 SAC Women's Tennis Tournament from Sumter, S.C. First serve between the Saints and Eagles is slated to begin at 2 p.m.
Be sure to follow all things Carson-Newman women's tennis at cneagles.com and via all social media accounts.
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