JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – With weather proving to be unkind for the Carson-Newman men's team in the past week, the Eagles look to take on outside competition in a trip to Dahlonega, Ga. for a Sunday afternoon match with a strong regional opponent in No. 18 North Georgia.
Carson-Newman has only been able to play in one match so far this season, falling to an 8-1 deficit against region foe Young Harris back on Feb. 6. The only Eagle to obtain a win in the match was Jesus Bacete-Sanz (Madrid, Spain) who picked up an 8-3 singles win that afternoon.
While C-N was swept in all three doubles matchups in the match, the closest head coach Jean Love's team came to winning a doubles faceoff was at the second-seeded position with Bacete-Sanz and Taylor Barie (Woodstock, Ga.), but the duo came up two points shy in the 8-6 defeat.
"I expect our seniors and experienced returners to step up their competitiveness and provide leadership," Love said. "Regardless of the outcome, I was to see us compete. We have the talent to do that."
North Georgia (3-0) has been perfect thus far in 2018 with wins over Emmanuel, Belmont Abbey and a shutout victory over Johnson C. Smith.
The team will play a match in nearby Greeneville, Tenn. against Tusculum on Saturday before hosting C-N the following day.
North Georgia's 18th-ranked position in the Preseason ITA national rankings marks the fourth-straight year the team has made it into the preseason top-25.
In his 13th season at the helm of the Nighthawks tennis program, Kent Norsworthy's team has a plethora of youth with five freshmen joining this season. No seniors grace the roster this season, leaving juniors Hugues Renaud and Niklas Zielen, a Preseason All-Peach Belt Conference team member, as the top veteran leaders.
Zielen was also named an ITA All-American and the conference's Player of the Year, the first in program history. Last season he was 14-3 at the top spot in singles play while going 16-4 as the top singles player.
Joining those veterans are sophomore duo Jared Bones and Mark Laishley.
A season ago, the Nighthawks were 19-5 with a 7-3 showing in conference action, ranked 11th in the nation by the end of 2017. They lost in the quarterfinal to Flagler, 5-4, before taking a back draw victory over Young Harris, 5-2. They met with Flagler again in the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional, losing 5-3.
Sunday's meeting will be the seventh since the start of the decade. North Georgia has won each of the last six matches.
The last time the Eagles and Nighthawks squared off was last season when then-No. 13 North Georgia left Mossy Creek with a 7-2 victory. The Eagles dropped the first two doubles matches on the day before Jesus Bacete-Sanz (Spain) and Kevin Mendes (Chattanooga, Tenn.) took a 9-8 victory at the No. 3 spot heading into singles play. The lone win in rest of the afternoon for C-N came at the No. 3 position as Marc Bantel battled back after a 6-1 first set defeat to win the second and third sets over Andre Canino.
Sunday's match is slated to start at 1 p.m. at the UNG Tennis Complex at Yahoola Creek.
