JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman men's tennis will look to rebound after suffering their first loss in three weeks as they host DI foe Austin Peay on Thursday before hitting the road to get back into 2022 SAC play. The Eagles (7-3, 2-0 SAC) play host to the Austin Peay Governors (3-3, 0-0 OVC) on Thursday before heading to Wise, Va. for a matchup with SAC foe UVA Wise (5-8, 0-2 SAC) on Saturday.
A win on Thursday would mark the eighth win of the spring for C-N, which has not happened since the 2011-12 season when the Eagles finished 8-10 overall but 3-6 in conference play. Since that season, the Eagles have collected seven wins or more in a season on three separate occasions, including last season's 7-11 mark with a 5-6 SAC record.
Carson-Newman was last in action last week in a pair of matches as they saw one of the most unique weeks in college tennis, both on and off the courts. First, last Tuesday, it was C-N on the road to face the Newberry Wolves in SAC action. As the two programs started with singles action ahead of possible inclement weather arriving, the match saw C-N get ahead 3-1 before the action would be postponed.
Since the matches were not resumed in 48 hours after the postponement, they are ruled a no-contest, and the rescheduling will have to begin all matches from the beginning.
As the Eagles looked to get ready for another road trip later in the week, they received some amazing news for this year and the entire program overall. Last Thursday, the Eagles became one of the latest top-50 teams ranked by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) as C-N came in at 23rd as a team while freshman Marnix Van Dalen (Netherlands) also received individual honors as he was slotted as the 31st ranked men's singles player in DII.
"It gave me goosebumps to see the boys that high," graduate coach Gabriel Dabdab said. "After being here for so long, finally seeing the results of the program going in the right direction is crazy."
Then, the Eagles stayed in the Volunteer State but were back on the road last Saturday. Heading to Athens, Tenn., the Eagles squared off with the #3 team in all NAIA men's tennis, Tenn. Wesleyan. The host Bulldogs left no doubt and claimed a 7-0 sweep to hand C-N its third loss of the spring and first since Feb. 26 when the Eagles fell to the Lee Flames.
SCOUTING AUSTIN PEAY
Carson-Newman and Austin Peay saw action against each other in February 2021 as part of a three team matchday from the Knoxville Racquet Club. However, it was C-N claiming a win over the DI Governors as they would hand Austin Peay a 4-3 defeat.
Joshua Ott (Knoxville, Tenn.) was one of two Eagles on the day to win both his matches against the Governors. Ott and teammate Marc Janse (Zeewolde, Netherlands) defeated their doubles opponents by a 7-5 score in the no. 3 position. The Knoxville native then continued his successful day with a 6-3, 6-0 sweep at the no. 6 singles position. Janse was successful in his singles match coming away with the 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 three-set thriller.
The only other singles victory came from Ids Waterbolk (Bennekom, Netherlands) who sparked the Eagles with his 4-6, 6-0, 6-0 battle at the no. 3 singles position.
So far this season, it has been a select amount of matches for Austin Peay as they have two matches either canceled or postponed. However, in their five matches played this spring, Austin Peay started off slow with a loss to Lipscomb before rattling three straight wins over Cumberland, Oakland City, and Southern Indiana. However, in their last match on March 8, it was the Governors falling to West Florida.
Against the Argonauts, it was the host program taking doubles as they won all three doubles matches by scores of 7-5 (no. 1), 6-4 (no. 2), and 6-1 (no. 3). From there, it was West Florida dominating singles as they won from the top four lines before the match went unfinished due to incoming weather, but the Argonauts still were awarded a 5-0 win.
Prior to arriving to Jefferson City, the Governors would square off with McKendree on Tuesday for their first home match of the entire spring. In their home opener, it was a 6-1 defeat handed to APSU by the visiting McKendree Bearcats. The day got started with Austin Peay claiming wins in no. 2 and 3 doubles to hold the early 1-0 advantage.
However, it was all McKendree in singles play as Giovanni Becchis would be the lone Governor to go three sets, but could not gain another point for the home team in the loss.
SCOUTING UVA-WISE
The last meeting between the Cavaliers and Eagles came in March 2021 as C-N dominated and maintained a lead from start to finish over the Newberry Wolves, claiming a 6-1 team win.
The match got started with C-N taking two out of three doubles matches to hold the early 1-0 advantage. Rintaro Oka (Narita, Japan) and Marc Janse walked away with a 6-3 victory before Joshua Ott and Julian Froehlich claimed the point with a 6-1 win.
Singles action was hot and dominant by C-N as well as the Eagles claimed five victories with only one of those going to three sets. Janse took the only three-set result against the Wolves as he won by a score of 6-1, 4-6, 6-4. Oka would win his singles match as well as he swept his opponent, 6-2, 7-5. Waterbolk, known for his home court theatrics, wasted no time as he swept his singles match as well by a result of 6-3, 6-3.
So far in 2022, UVA Wise started off losing four straight matches before claiming their first win of the spring on Feb. 27 against Bluefield College. Since winning, the Wolves have dropped two straight SAC matches to Anderson and Lenoir-Rhyne before having their match with Newberry got postponed last week.
In their last match of 2022 against the Bears, it would be a 7-0 win for Lenoir-Rhyne to hand the Cavaliers their second straight conference loss. The doubles point would go to L-R after winning 6-0 from number one and 6-0 from both number two and three to claim the 1-0 advantage.
In singles, the closest result for UVA Wise came from the racquet of Dominic Hoffman as he would fall 6-1, 6-0 in the number one position.
Opening serve between C-N and Austin Peay is slated for 1:00 p.m. from the Buddy Catlett Tennis Complex. Meanwhile, the Eagles and Highland Cavaliers will get started on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. from the Jim & Betty Humphreys Tennis Complex in Wise, Va.
Be sure to keep up with all things Carson-Newman men's tennis at cneagles.com and on social media on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
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