TIGERVILLE, S.C. — The Carson-Newman men's tennis team (2-4) regained its form as it went on the road and beat the North Greeneville University Crusaders (3-5) 6-3 in a Wednesday afternoon duel.

The Eagles have now won two of their last three matches.

"Another good effort from the men's team was rewarded with a big win today," coach Jean Love said of her squad. "I am really pleased with the guys' effort. We have had some tough losses this season. Our effort and heart have been there and it paid off today."

Carson-Newman started out strong picking up two of three doubles matches to begin the day. The No. 2 duo of Kevin Mendes (Woodstock, Ga) and Juan Sebastian Perez (Ecaudor) took down a pair of Crusaders with a score of 8-4. Austin Mackay (Oak Ridge, Tenn) and Joao Pedro Oliveira (Brazil) followed up with another 8-4 victory to secure the No. 3 win.

The winning continued into singles play as the Eagles compiled four victories in six singles matches. Oliveira and Perez again found the win column, as they were victors for the No. 1 and 2 singles. They compiled scores of 6-6, 6-4, 12-10 and 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 respectively.

After losing the No. 3 and 4 singles, C-N again responded with solid efforts from Mendes and Garret Duron (Woodstock, Ga). Mendes came out on top defeating the No. 5 Crusader 6-4 and 6-2. Duron's victory then finalized the great offensive day for Carson-Newman, as he won the No. 6 match in two sets scored 6-2, 6-2. 

"The match of the day was at #1 singles. JP and his opponent battled for two sets and the match had to be decided by a tiebreak for the third set. I am so happy for JP because playing at #1, he always plays the best players and he has played well but has not been rewarded with many wins this season," Love praised. "Today he finally got the win." 

The Eagles will again hit the road Friday as they travel to Catawba for a 1p.m. start time. 

-CN-