KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Another day and another tournament for Carson-Newman men's tennis has come and went after the Eagles wrapped up action in the Eagle Invitational on Saturday. The Eagles saw action in both singles and doubles as they looked to end on a high note to wrap up their fall season.
The action on Saturday for C-N included a pair of doubles matches and one round of singles action to conclude the tournament for all competitors.
"A very profitable weekend for both girls and guys," graduate assistant Gabriel Dabdab said. "The level of competition was great and everyone, no exceptions, did what we asked them to do in order to be competitive in all matches."
To get things rolling for C-N from Knoxville, the pairing of junior Ids Waterbolk (Bennekom, The Netherlands) and freshman Gjorgji Jankulovski (Macedonia) looked to continue their resounding success from the fall season thus far. After winning on Friday, the pairing went up against the Garcia brothers from Lee University, as C-N moved on with a 7-6 (8) victory. Then, it would be Jankulovski and Waterbolk versus Medeiros/Ramirez Ribes from Lee in the flight A finals. This is where C-N would be halted as the Flames sparked themselves to a 6-3 victory and the overall flight win.
After falling on Friday, junior Marc Janse (Zeewolde, Netherlands) and sophomore Lars Hordijk (Dordrecht, South Holland) responded with high intensity and great passion on Saturday. The duo would be in flight A West action against DelValle/Luque from Young Harris to start off their matches. The Eagles won 7-5 and advanced to play the pairing of Bonacia/Eldin in the West finals. In the match, it would be Janse and Hordijk continuing their momentum and claiming the West finals with a 6-3 result.
The Eagles also saw the pairing of freshman Richard Dulganov (Hungary) and freshman Marnix Van Dalen take a walk-over loss against Ribera and McCurry from Young Harris. The duo would then move on to face Kondou/Mensinga from Tusculum, winning by walkover and injury. From there, the freshman for C-N faced Magill/Giesberts of the University of Charleston as they once again were awarded a walk-over victory and a title of men's flight B West winners.
Carson-Newman continued their Saturday slate of action as they would place six athletes in a pairo f singles matches from Tyson Park.
Freshman Gjorgji Jankulovski won his first two singles matches on Friday to set up a date in the men's flight B finals against Kenta Kondou of Tusculum. The win would be awarded to C-N after Kondou had to withdraw due to injury.
Fellow freshman Richard Dulganov kept the youthfulness alive for C-N as he would be in the men's flight D finals on Saturday. His opponent would be Jordi Dasi from Lee University. Dulganov loved the competition level he saw, as he once again played a tight one but would be able to take the flight victory 2-6, 7-5, (10-3) and make it two flights for C-N.
Freshman Marnix Van Dalen was in action as part of the men's flight A West finals. After defeating Joaquin Minguez Riberia of Young Harris 3-6, 6-4 (10-7) to start off his Saturday, Van Dalen then went against Robert Steinhauser of the University of Charleston. The freshman would end his time in Knoxville with another win as he pulled out the 2-6, 6-4 (10-8) victory and won the West finals of flight A.
Junior Ids Waterbolk (Bennekom, Netherlands) was not happy with how his Friday singles matches ended, so he made it his mission to redeem himself come Saturday. It would be Ids Waterbolk versus Janis Auslands of Young Harris in the men's flight C 3-4 playoff. Nothing would stop Waterbolk from taking a victory as he won 7-5, 6-1 to end another successful fall tournament for himself.
In flight D, sophomore Lars Hordijk would see action in the 3-4 playoff against Nathan Matsuguma of Tusculum. Looking to wrap up his first fall season as an Eagle competitor, Hordijk left it all on the courts as he won 2-6, 7-5, (10-5) and ended his time in Knoxville on a high note.
In the flight A 3-4 playoff, Marc Janse was in action against Francesco Bonacia of Tusculum. After losing in a closely competitive match on Friday, Janse was once again tested as he fell 4-6, 7-6 (4), (10-8) to Bonacio to close out his time in Knoxville.
"I think this men's team has the ability and tenacity to be something special this year. I know we may not have done as well as we would like to individually this weekend, but as a team, the guys support each other and motivate each other to achieve success on and off the courts," Dabdab said.
The Eagles will now start preparing for the fall season which is slated to begin in early February against the Union (Ky.) Bulldogs.
Be sure to keep up with the C-N men's tennis team all season long across Carson-Newman's social media platforms and on cneagles.com
