Eagles freshmen continue hot start at University of the Cumberlands Tournament

WILLIAMSBURG, KY – The Carson-Newman men's tennis team saw freshmen Marc Janse (Zeewolde, Netherlands) and Ids Waterbolk (Bennekom, Netherlands) lead the way at the University of the Cumberlands Tournament in Williamsburg, Kentucky. 

Janse was matched up against the best players the other competitors, Union College, Tennessee Wesleyan and the University of the Cumberlands had to offer. Being placed at the top of the lineup is unusual for a freshman like Janse.

As could be expected, he lost his two singles matches but fought valiantly against more experienced competition as he was downed in third-set tiebreaker fashion both times.

"It was good for him to get in there and play that high in the lineup," Carson-Newman coach Jim Frederick said. "In Marc's case, that's the first time he has been that high, essentially he's playing as the number one."

Waterbolk had a similar outing in Williamsburg. He was slotted third in the Eagles lineup and lost both matches in third set tiebreakers. The 6-8 freshman had won one match and had match point in the other but was unable to seal the deal. 

"His reach to the net is huge, the biggest thing he needs to work on is his bending," Frederick said. "That's the biggest thing with him, he's just got to get lower than I would to hit a tennis ball."

Senior Gabriel Dabdab (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) lost both of his singles matches despite holding strong leads of 5-2 and 5-3 in multiple sets throughout both contests. 

"He's really frustrated," Frederick said. "He gets up in every set he plays and then doesn't win the set. He's there but he's just not finishing off sets and matches. He did not win yesterday but he could've won both."

Both junior Daniel Cox (Chattanooga, TN) and freshman Joshua Ott (Knoxville, TN) lost their singles matches but saw improvement over the course of the event. Both Eagles struggled in their first match but played better the second time around.

"The best players are steady at the right time and offensive at the right time," Frederick said. "[Ott] played offense when he wanted to and not when he should. That's the biggest thing we've got to work on with him."

It was the first event for both players since appearing at the Wingate Invitational back on Sept. 8^th.

"[Cox] is probably the hardest worker we have on the team by far," Frederick said. "I wouldn't trade him for anything because of his work ethic."

In doubles play, C-N won three matches and lost just once.

The team next plays on Oct. 11^th through the 13^th at the Georgia Gwinnett Invitational in Lawrenceville, Georgia. 

"I thought this weekend, for the most part, we competed pretty well and I think that that's a huge thing," Frederick said. "If we can get consistent in that we're gonna get better results."

Be sure to keep up with the Carson-Newman tennis team all across C-N's social media platforms and on cneagles.com.