TEMPE, Ariz. - Carson-Newman men's tennis (8-6) falls to no. 37 in ITA's Division II National Rankings released on Mar. 29th. Marc Janse falls out of the top-75 despite winning his tenth consecutive singles matchup on Wednesday.
Carson-Newman was previously ranked 26th, their highest mark of the season, in the ITA's release on Mar. 22nd. The Eagles were the highest ranked SAC team on the list, but now Carson-Newman sits below no. 27 Tusculum (10-4), no. 33 Anderson (11-1), and no. 36 Wingate (11-2). No. 46 Limestone (6-5) is the only other SAC team on the ITA's list.
Carson-Newman finished Mar., with a record of 6-1 with all of their matchups being played against conference opponents. Their lone loss was to Tusculum, who ranked 30th in the nation at the time. The Eagles fell in a tightly contested 4-3 match that came down to the final set.
The Eagles followed up their loss with arguably their best performance of the season. Charry's squad played against the then undefeated Anderson University, who was ranked 17th at the time. Carson-Newman dominated the match 6-1, earning the Eagles the 26th spot on the ITA's national ranking later that week.
Since their win over Anderson, Carson-Newman defeated Coker 6-1 and Emory & Henry 6-1 in a pair of home meetings.
Gjorgji Jankulovski and Janse lead the Eagles in singles victories with 11. Janse has won his last 10 singles matchups. Jankulovski is sitting on a seven-game win streak. Formerly ranked Marnix Van Dalen is third on the team with nine singles victories.
Carson-Newman has yet to feature a ranked duos pair this season despite Lars Hordijk and Van Dalen having accumulated a perfect 8-0 record this season. An argument could be made for Rintaro Oka and Janse to be ranked following their seven duos victories as well as Ids Waterbolk and Gjorgji Jankulovski, having compiled a 7-2 record this season.
The Eagles return to action on Saturday, Apr. 1st to take on no. 36 Wingate. Wingate is currently the SAC's top team with a record of 6-0 in conference play and 11-2 overall. The Eagles are fourth in the conference with a 6-1 record in conference play and an 8-6 record overall.
For more information on Carson-Newman tennis, visit cneagles.com or follow Carson-Newman athletics on social media.
