KENOSHA, Wis. — Despite facing a 2-4 deficit with three singles matches yet to finish, the Carthage women's tennis team stormed back to take a 5-4 victory over Carroll University this Wednesday night at Smeds Tennis Center. Tonight's win gives the Firebirds a 2-0 record in conference dual matches to begin their 2021-22 season.

Doubles began slow for the Firebirds early on, as courts three and two both fell to the opposing team to kick off the match. Carthage would bounce back to take court one however, after an 8-4 winning effort by Giana Apostoli and Sam Ramsey heading into singles action.

After court five fell to the Pioneers to begin singles play, Giana Apostoli would grab a dominant win on court one with her 6-1, 6-3 victory. Court three then fell to the visitors, putting Carthage at a 2-4 disadvantage for the match heading into the remaining three courts. The Firebirds did not fold under pressure, however, as they claimed each of the remaining singles positions. The comeback began on courts six and four, where Maddie Kearney and Sierra Sonnemaker both won their matches 6-3, 6-2 to even out the dual match score at 4-4. All attention shifted to court two, where Sam Ramsey would look to give the Firebirds the advantage by winning the final match of the evening. After easily winning her first set 6-3, Ramsey would face off in a tiebreaker set with her opponent after matching each other 6-6. The evening would conclude with Ramsey winning court two 6-3, 7-6 (1), putting Carthage at a 5-4 advantage over the Pioneers and improving their conference record to 2-0 for the year.

"We started a bit slow in doubles but responded really well in singles," said Head Coach Brady Lindsley. " That was a very good team win!"

Carthage hosts their third conference dual match of the season this Saturday, September 18th against Augustana College at Smeds Tennis Center in Kenosha, Wis.

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Results

Carthage - 5
Carroll - 4
 
Doubles
1. Giana Apostoli/Sam Ramsey (CAR) def. Krueger, Grace/LaBelle, Ashley (CARROLL) 8-4
2. Gaedtke, Maya/Dekker, Sophia (CARROLL) def. Rachel Anderson/Sasha Manojlovic (CAR) 8-4
3. Ostrander, Madison/Papp, Rachel (CARROLL) def. Sierra Sonnemaker/Maddie Kearney (CAR) 8-1

Order of finish: 3, 2, 1
 
Singles
1. Giana Apostoli (CAR) def. Krueger, Grace (CARROLL) 6-1, 6-3
2. Sam Ramsey (CAR) def. LaBelle, Ashley (CARROLL) 6-3, 7-6 (0-1)
3. Dekker, Sophia (CARROLL) def. Rachel Anderson (CAR) 6-2, 6-3
4. Sierra Sonnemaker (CAR) def. Gaedtke, Maya (CARROLL) 6-3, 6-2
5. Ostrander, Madison (CARROLL) def. Sasha Manojlovic (CAR) 6-3, 6-1
6. Maddie Kearney (CAR) def. Papp, Rachel (CARROLL) 6-3, 6-2

Order of finish: 5, 1, 3, 6, 4, 2