JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – After having its first match canceled due to cold temperatures, the Carson-Newman men's tennis team looks to officially start its season on Tuesday as the Eagles host Young Harris at 1 p.m. at the Buddy Catlett Tennis Complex.
This will mark the eighth meeting between the two teams since 2010 and the first since 2015.
"It's important to start off with an opponent that you can use as a little bit of a measuring stick because if you play an opponent you may, because of years past, feel like you're probably going to win, it won't help," head coach Jean love said of the familiar opponent. "Right now, we need to play some good competition because we need to see where we are right now so we can learn and grow, and that's why it's important to play a decent opponent like this early on."
Love's team sees eight players making a return to Mossy Creek in 2018 including four seniors. Kevin Mendes (Chattanooga, Tenn.) led the team last season with an 11-4 singles record at the No. 6 spot. He enters his senior year with a 26-25 career record, just five victories shy of tying Juan Sebastian Perez for most career singles wins this decade.
Sophomore Gabriel Dabdab (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) returns with a 10-7 record at the fourth and fifth spots to start his career at C-N. As one half of the duo that garnered First-Team All-South Atlantic Conference Singles accolades in 2017 alongside Joao Pedro Oliveira, he grasped a 12-6 doubles record, mostly at the No. 2 position.
"I think Gabriel is looking to kind of step it up a little this year, which is good," Love said. "The men's team overall, just with our experience, I think we should be able to set a good tone right from the start."
The Eagles start the season with hopes of improving upon their 7-10 record from a year ago, falling just short of a trip to the South Atlantic Conference Tournament.
Young Harris enters the game with a 1-0 record after defeating Lenoir-Rhyne last Thursday in a 6-3 decision. The Mountain Lions' lone doubles victory in the match came at the No. 1 spot as Alex Pavel and Guilherme Sergio took an 8-7 win over Tomas Hons and Shane O'Dea.
In singles action, Young Harris took the win after holding the advantage in all but the No. 2 spot as senior Alex Pavel could not overcome L-R's Hamed Gandouz is a 1-6, 4-6 set.
Sophomore Mateo Besada held the No. 1 spot for head coach Cammie Nix's crew in the season opener. The Buenos Aires, Argentina native was 5-16 in his freshman year for singles play while going 11-12 in doubles.
The Mountain Lions returns to Mossy Creek on a four-match winning streak in the series. The last meeting between the two on Feb. 7, 2015 saw Young Harris take a 7-2 victory in Jefferson City, a game that also served as the season opener for the Eagles. C-N started strong with two doubles victories from the tandems of Juan Sebastian Perez and Kevin Mendez at the No. 2 spot and Joao Pedro Oliveria and Austin Mackay at the No. 3 spot. Singles play was not kind for C-N as the Mountain Lions swept all six matches.
The Eagles are 3-4 against Young Harris this decade. The last C-N win came on Feb. 12, 2011 when the Eagles took a 7-2 decision at home.
"There have been some years where it's been very competitive and we've won and some years where it's been very competitive and we've lost," Love said of the matchup. "There hasn't been too many matches that have not been competitive though, but it's kind of hard to predict because it has been a little inconsistent over the years.
"We are ready to play against somebody else because we have beaten up on each other in practice enough that we can't really get any better until we get some of that outside competition under our belt and learn from it."
Tuesday's match is slated to begin at 1 p.m. at the Buddy Catlett Tennis Complex. Stats can be found on cneagles.com throughout the duration of the match.
