JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – "One point," head coach Jim Frederick said. That is all that stood between Carson-Newman men's tennis (4-5, 2-1 SAC) and victory over Anderson. However, the Trojans (3-1, 3-1 SAC) get to leave Mossy Creek with their 11th straight series win over C-N and with the 4-3 team victory, handing C-N its first conference loss on the year.
The final match of the night came down to sophomore Ids Waterbolk (Bennekom, Netherlands) and his Trojans opponent. The match started out in Waterbolk's favor as he claimed the first set 6-4 before Anderson stormed back and got a 7-6 decision to fall their way in set two. The third set was a nail-biter but Anderson's player stepped up big time and held Waterbolk to only two games the whole set, winning the set and match 6-2 for Anderson.
Although the Eagles could not fully put together a victory, they did start the matchup by taking the valuable doubles point. Sophomore Marc Janse (Zeewolde, Netherlands) and junior Rintaro Oka (Narita, Japan) gained the first victory for C-N with a 6-2 decision at number two singles. The pair was soon followed up by sophomore Joshua Ott (Knoxville, Tenn.) and grad student Julian Froehlich (Kobenz, Austria) who claimed the point on a 6-3 triumph from number three doubles.
When it came to singles, only two Eagles could clinch another point for C-N. Grad student Gabriel Dabdab (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), playing at number five singles, was one of the last matches to finish prior to Waterbolk. Dabdab climbed himself into a position to take the 7-5, 6-2 victory to set up the deciding match at number three singles.
The only other Eagle victor in singles was Janse at number two singles. He was going back-and-forth with Kush of Anderson, having the home crowd cheering him on every point. Janse saw the first set fall 6-4 in his favor and kept that momentum rolling to claim the second set 6-4 as well to give C-N their second point on the day.
Other singles results were: Oka falling 4-6, 0-6 at number one singles, Froehlich seeing a 2-6, 2-6 decision fall to Anderson, and Ott battling hard but not coming up with a win as his opponent from number six singles claimed a point with his score of 7-5, 2-6, 1-6.
The Eagles will get a couple days of rest and practice before seeing action again. The Eagles travel to Nashville for an exhibition against the Belmont Bruins at 1:00 p.m. Saturday.
Be sure to keep up with all things Carson-Newman men's tennis on cneagles.com and via all social media accounts.
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