JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn – After a week off, the Carson-Newman men's tennis team (0-3, 0-1,) returns to South Atlantic Conference play Saturday and Sunday against the Anderson (S.C.) Trojans and the Brevard Tornados.
On Saturday afternoon, the Trojans (7-2, 4-1 SAC) travel to Mossy Creek for a 2:00 p.m. South Atlantic Conference match at Carson-Newman Tennis Complex. The Eagles then travel to Brevard (4-4, 0-2 SAC) for their first road SAC match of the season that is scheduled to get underway at 1 p.m.
The Eagles enter the matches against Anderson and Brevard tied for ninth in the SAC at 0-1, while the Trojans are third with a 4-1 record. Brevard is last in the league at 0-2.
"The upcoming conference matches this weekend will be a real challenge for the guys as we try to bounce back from a tough loss in our conference opener last week. Practice has been good. I believe we will be ready," coach Jean Love said ahead of the match.
The Eagles have dropped their last two contests by a 5-4 score each. Last Saturday against Mars Hill, Carson-Newman was only able to secure two of the six individual points after winning two of the three doubles points.
Individually, two doubles duos have neither dropped a set. Kevin Mendes (Woodstock, Ga.) and Juan Sebastian Perez (Ecuador) have only lost 13 of the 37 games they have played thus far. Austin Mackay (Oak Ridge, Tenn.) and Joao Pedro Oliveria (Brazil) have only lost 14 games.
Anderson enters the match having four of its last five matches. The Trojans dropped their last competition 6-3 last Saturday in Greeneville against Tusculum. Before the loss to the Pioneers, Tusculum had run off wins against Catawba, Mars Hill, Erskine and Queens.
In singles competitions, Anderson has a winning record in every singles match besides the sets between the team's ones. Paul Michael Calhoun, Juan Carracedo, Inkaki Iriberrya and Mateo Rivas all have at least six wins in singles play for the Trojans. Anderson's numbers in doubles competition are down compared to singles. Overall, the Trojans have a .593 winning percentage, but that number rises to .667 in SAC play.
Brevard is currently riding a two-match losing streak after losses to Pfeiffer and Wingate. Between those two matches, the Tornados have exactly one point. They will play Saturday afternoon at home against Mars Hill before hosting Carson-Newman.
The singles play of Rory Northam and Nathan Sabate lead the team. Both Northam and Sabate are 5-3 this season. Sabate plays as the No. 3 and Northam is the No. 4.
Two doubles tandems are sitting above .500. Northam teams with David Taggart as primarily the Tornados' top doubles team. They are 4-3 this season and were the only point recorded for the team Thursday against Pfeiffer. Sabate and George Finch are the team's No. 2 doubles duo and they are also 4-3.
Results from both matches will be available on cneagles.com.
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