JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – A pair of previously scheduled Carson-Newman men's tennis matches will be made up this week as the Eagles travel to Tennessee Wesleyan on Tuesday before coming back to the Buddy Catlett Tennis Complex to host Lee on Wednesday.
The two matches will make up for lost ground on two previous days of play that had been deferred to a later time due to rain.
Carson-Newman (0-2) enters the match following its first shutout loss since 2015, both of those occurrences happening against North Georgia. The 9-0 loss to the No. 18 team in the nation marked the team's first road loss of the season as well.
"We will continue to believe in ourselves and improve on our weaknesses," head coach Jean Love said of her team. "Even though we have lost the last two matches, we have played well and been competitive in spurts. So we need to stay the course. Our effort has been good. It is important that we maintain our effort and improve our play."
Tuesday's meeting will be the first match of the spring for Tennessee Wesleyan.
The Bulldogs (1-0) came into the season ranked No. 19 in the NAIA preseason coaches' poll. They opened their 2018 campaign in September with an 8-1 win over Christian Brothers University.
TWU closed out 2017 with a 12-5 record going 5-2 in Appalachian Athletic Conference action with a trip to the AAC tournament where the Bulldogs fell to Reinhardt in the finals, 5-4. The team's trip to the NAIA National Championships was cut short by Middle Georgia State College, 6-3. They finished the season at No. 17 in the NAIA rankings, the highest ranking in team history.
First-year head coach Francisco Gallardo now sits at the helm of the Bulldogs squad after playing for them for four years and serving as an assistant coach last season. His team returns nine players from last year's roster including 2017 AAC All-Freshman Team member Bernat Paredes.
The last time the Eagles and Bulldogs faced off was Feb. 24 of last season with the Bulldogs taking a 5-4 victory on the banks of Mossy Creek. C-N lost all three doubles matches to start off the day, giving the Bulldogs a hefty lead heading into singles action. TWU kept the ball rolling as Llardo took the first singles win at the No. 3 spot over Marc Bantel in straight sets, 6-2, 7-5. The Eagles picked up wins from Joao Pedro Oliveria, Rodolfo Schwarz (Brazil), Gabriel Dabdab (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and Kevin Mendes (Chattanooga, Tenn.), but those wins were not enough as the Bulldogs snatched two of the six singles matches to garner the victory.
Carson-Newman has not won a match against Tennessee Wesleyan in all of this decade's four meetings. The closest they have come to winning a match was last season.
Wednesday's home tussle with Lee will make up for the Feb. 10 match.
The Flames (2-0) come into the match following their second consecutive 9-0 shutout victory. Both of their wins this season came against Erskine and Lees-McRae. In each victory for head coach Patric Hynes' team, no match has been sent into a third set tiebreaker.
Senior Rhys Milne closed out 2017 with an appearance on the Gulf South Conference Second Team list after posting a 7-9 overall record. He also recorded a 13-6 clip in doubles alongside Igor Schattan.
The last time the Eagles and Flames faced off was April 8, 2016 with the Flames coming out victorious in the close match, 5-4, at the DeVos Tennis Center. After a Lee No. 2 doubles' win to start the day, C-N was only able to take one win on the doubles side as the No. 1 duo of Stefano Daza and Juan Sebastian Perez took a 9-7 victory before the Flames went on a three-match winning streak, putting them up 4-1.
At the second-seed position on the singles side, Perez took a 1-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 victory over Milne to cut the lead, 4-2, before Lee took its final win at the No. 4 spot with Boyd Blackburn besting Marc Bantel (Urbach, Germany), 6-3, 6-1.
That fifth win was all the Flames needed for the day despite C-N winning at the fifth and sixth spots.
Carson-Newman has gone 1-2 against Lee since 2011. The last time the Eagles reigned victorious over the Flames was in 2014 when the Eagles took a close 5-4 victory at home.
Both Tuesday's match between the Eagles and Bulldogs in Athens, Tenn. and Wednesday's tangle with Lee at the Buddy Catlett Tennis Complex are set to begin at 1:30 p.m. Results and recaps will follow both days of competition on cneagles.com.
