JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The Carson-Newman men's tennis team lost 5-4 to the Newberry Wolves on Friday afternoon at the Buddy Catlett Tennis Complex.
"This was a tough loss. We split the singles matches but our doubles play let us down today," Carson-Newman coach Jean Love said.
Carson-Newman (4-7, 3-4) started out the match against Newberry (14-3, 5-1) with a lot of confidence in doubles play. The Eagles No. 1 doubles tandem of Stefano Daza (Venezuela) and Rodolfo Schwarz (Brazil) won the opening doubles match 8-4 on Friday afternoon.
The Eagles No. 2 doubles tandem of Joao Pedro Oliveria (Brazil) and Gabriel Dabdab (Brazil) saw their five match conference winning streak come to a close on Friday afternoon, as the duo lost 8-3. The No. 3 doubles duo of Jesus Bacete-Sanz (Spain) and Marc Bantel (Germany) lost the match 8-5, helping Newberry gain an early 2-1 lead over the Eagles.
Oliveria roared back at No.1 singles after losing the first set 5-7. The senior won the final two sets 6-4, 6-4 giving him a 7-6 record on the season and a 4-3 mark within conference play.
"The #1 singles match was tremendous over two and a half hour battle. JP came back from a first set loss 7-5 to take the 2nd and 3rd sets 6-4, 6-4. It was just a well-played highly competitive tennis match. Points were hard-earned in this match," Love said.
With the score even a 2-2 Bantel stepped in at the No. 2 singles position. Bantel won the first set 7-5, but then dropped the final two sets 6-0, 6-2. The junior has not been able to find his stride this season going just 3-9 overall.
Daza played a hard fought No. 3 singles match against Nikhil Mannepalli. Daza lost the opening set 6-0, but battled back to win the second set 6-3. Daza lost the final set 6-2, as his losing streak reaches four matches now.
Schwarz was unable to carry any momentum from his win earlier in the week. The junior lost in straight sets 6-2, 6-3. The Brazilian is now just 2-7 on the season in singles play. Dabdab on the other hand was able to get back on the winning track with 6-1, 6-3 victory at No. 5 singles.
The match had already been decided in Newberry's favor by the time Kevin Mendes touched the court, but that did not stop the junior from picking up his seventh win of the year. The native of Chattanooga won 6-4, 6-0 and improves to 5-2 within conference play.
The Eagles next match will be at home against Lincoln Memorial on March 28, at 1 p.m.
-CN-
