JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Another early deficit in doubles play was too much for the Carson-Newman men's tennis team to battle back from as the Eagles fell to the Flames of Lee 9-0 on Wednesday afternoon at the Buddy Catlett Tennis Complex.
The defeat extends the Flames winning record to 3-1 against the Eagles since 2012. This is also Lee's second-straight win against the Eagles (0-4).
This marks the first time this season that the Eagles have started a season 0-4.
Jesus Bacete-Sanz (Madrid, Spain) and Joseph Stiles (New Oxford, Pa.) teamed up for the first time this season at the three-spot to face Bruno Medeiros and Boyd Blackburn. The new duo was not able to overcome the Lee unit, falling 8-2 to start the day.
Gabriel Dabdab (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and Rodolfo Schwarz (Brazil) followed at the top position, falling to Rhys Milne and Jake Okines 8-6.
The closest doubles match came at the No. 2 spot as Marc Bantel (Urbach, Germany) and Taylor Barie (Woodstock, Ga.) ended up just two points shy of Daniel Prata and Igor Schattan, 8-6.
The Eagles faced a 3-0 disadvantage for the fourth straight time this season as singles play commenced.
Lee (3-0) won all six of the singles matches in straight sets.
Okines took 6-4 and 6-3 decisions against C-N's No. 3 man Schwarz before top-seeded Dabdab fell to Milne, 6-1 and 6-3.
Following a win on Tuesday against Tennessee Wesleyan, Bantel looked to have another strong showing at the No. 2 spot. He battled in the first set, coming up short in a 7-6 decision before Lee's Schattan took the match with a 6-4 second set win, as the Flames lead moved to 5-0.
Prata kept the momentum up for the Flames, taking straight sets against Barie, 6-3 and 6-2, and the No. 4 position.
The sixth-spot saw Blackburn take a steep pair of wins over C-N's Stiles with 6-2 and 6-0 decisions.
Bacete-Sanz came in at the fifth-slot for the Eagles but fell to Medeiros 6-3 and 6-4 to solidify the shutout loss.
The Eagles head back on the road for a trip to the Lincoln Memorial Roundup in Harrogate, Tenn. where they will face Martin Methodist on Saturday afternoon. That match is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. A recap will follow on CNeagles.com.
