La Jolla, CA. -- Principia College's Head Women's Tennis Coach,
Shannon Carney once again continues to amaze us with her stellar play at national competitions during the summer. Recently, Carney played in La Jolla, California for the USTA National Hardcourt championships. She was seeded 3rd in singles and 2nd in doubles heading into the competition. In singles, Carney did end up taking third place, winning a USTA Bronze ball. Carney won her first two rounds of singles 6-0,6-0 and then in the quarter final match she beat the 5th seed 6-1,6-2. Although she did not fare as well in the semifinals, she still played hard and fought until the end! She lost to the eventual champion in three sets in a long 3 set match. The match for 3rd place was also a battle and Carney ended up winning that 6-3,0-6, 14-12 in the third set tie-breaker.
In doubles, Carney and her new partner Susan Wright beat the 3 time champions of this tournament in three sets. They were down 5-2 in the first set, then came back to 5-5. However, they could not pull out the first set and ultimately lost 7-5. The duo then won the next two sets 6-3, 6-2 to win the championships and a gold ball.
Coach Carney comments, "My partner, Susan Wright and I have never played together and it was fun working with each other. In early rounds we bumped into each other and took each other's shots but by the finals we worked well together and covered the court, each setting the other up for a close out volley. It was my first Gold Ball doubles championship. It was great to pull out this win."
Susan Wright had this to say about competing with coach Carney, "Shannon was a lot of fun to play doubles with. She is an amazing competitor that never gives up." Carney also had a fan, Sue Sprague who watched her matches and commented, "Shannon is a fighter! She doesn't want to make an unforced error. Every ball must go over the net! She does this with her quick feet and anticipation of her opponents shots. I think her mantra is " I refuse to miss!" This serves her well in her competitive endeavors.
Stay tuned as Carney continues to compete this summer. She adds her individual accomplishments as a player to her successes this year as a coach- pulling off an amazing conference tournament win late in April with the Principia College Women's Tennis team!
