KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The Carson-Newman Eagles (1-2, 0-0 SAC) and Tennessee Wesleyan Bulldogs (3-1, 0-0 AAC) met for the second time in 4 days Saturday night. This time around, the result was the same as it was on Wednesday, with C-N falling to the Bulldogs by a score of 5-2.
This was the 10th overall matchup between the Bulldogs and Eagles, with Wesleyan holding the 9-1 overall series lead.
As it has been evident in all of 2021 action, Carson-Newman has struggled to gain the advantage via the elusive doubles point. Tennessee Wesleyan gained the point with a sweep of doubles by scores of 3-6, 4-6, 3-6 in all three battles. This tenacity and utter displacement continued over to singles play for Tennessee Wesleyan.
Despite losing at No. 1 doubles along with teammate sophomore Ids Waterbolk (Bennekom, Netherlands), grad student Gabriel Dabdab (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) attempted to turn his night around with a 6-3, 7-6 battle at No. 5 singles against Wesleyan. Dabdab was able to fight his way to one of the two victories for the Eagles, his second singles win on the day. The other point for C-N came from junior Rintaro Oka (Narita, Japan) in the no. 2 singles spot. Oka swept his opponent 7-5, 7-5 to make his day a 2-0 success and get above .500 for his 2021 campaign to match Dabdab.
Sophomore Marc Janse (Zeewolde, Netherlands) tried to continue his success at the no. 1 singles position but was no match for his Bulldog opponent. Janse battled hard but fell 6-2, 6-4 as Tennessee Wesleyan continued their dominance on the night.
Grad student Julian Froechlich (Kobenz, Austria) held the no. 4 singles spot where he was defeated 6-0, 6-1 which gives Froechlich a sub .500 record in 2021 action. Sophomore Joshua Ott (Knoxville, Tenn.) was slated in the no. 6 singles position and just like on Wednesday, fell to his opponent with the result of 6-3.
Finally, at No. 3 singles, Waterbolk fought tooth-and-nail in all three set to keep his 2021 winning streak alive, but was just short of victory. Waterbolk was defeated 2-6, 6-4, 9-11 by his Bulldog comrade. Waterbolk joins Dabdab and Oka as the lone Eagles who hold above .500 records in singles action for the three matches the Eagles have played.
Moving forward to next weekend, C-N head back to Knoxville for the third straight time for a battle with the Austin Peay Governors. Opening serve is set for 2 p.m. on February 20th from the Knoxville Racquet Club.
-CN-
