Singles rally leads Tusculum past C-N, 7-2

Singles rally leads Tusculum past C-N, 7-2

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Carson-Newman Eagles jumped out to a 2-1 doubles lead, but couldn't withstand a Tusculum rally in singles, falling 7-2 in Greeneville, Tenn. on Thursday afternoon.

As for Thursday's match, the Pioneers (6-7, 2-2 SAC) snapped a four-match losing streak by winning five of six singles matches against the Eagles (3-9, 0-4 SAC).

Tusculum opened action by winning two of three doubles pro sets. Oliver Smith and Steven Lin teamed for an 8-5 win over Adriano Kira and Paul Birdsong at flight two, and Gui Carvalho and Drew Kiser downed Derek Holdway and Dalton Moore 8-2 at flight three. Trent Slagle and Matthew White gave Carson-Newman a point with an 8-3 victory over Tony Bujana and Luis Zamora at flight one.

In singles, Zamora gave the Pioneers a 3-1 lead with a 7-5, 6-3 win at flight two over Dusty Davis. Holdway cut the Eagle deficit to 3-2 with a 6-0, 1-6, 6-3 victory over Smith at flight three, but Bujana outlasted Slagle 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 at flight one for a 4-2 Tusculum lead.

Needing just one point in the final three singles matches, Lin closed out the victory with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Chris Acker at flight four to clinch the win. Kiser followed with a 6-4, 6-2 win at flight six over Birdsong, and Carvalho finished off the match via tiebreaker, defeating Kira 13-11 at flight five after splitting the first two sets 6-1, 4-6.