JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn.—The Carson-Newman men's tennis team will try and get back on the winning track this week with a pair contests against North Greenville on Wednesday at home and a South Atlantic Conference match at Anderson on Friday afternoon.
Last week saw the Eagles (4-6, 2-3 SAC) go 3-1 with wins over Brevard (3/15), Lenoir-Rhyne (3/16) and Bellarmine (3/18).
The Crusaders (3-4) come to Mossy Creek on Wednesday for a 1:00 p.m. start time. North Greenville are winners of its last two outings with a 9-0 sweep over Brevard on March 17 and a 7-2 rout over Lees-McRae on March 18.
Coached by Thomas Kurhajec, the Crusaders field one senior, two juniors, four sophomores and two freshman on the 2016 roster. The last time these two squads clashed, Carson-Newman wound up on the top end of the 6-3 decision on March 18, 2015.
"We are really looking forward to a good competitive non-conference match against North Greenville," C-N coach Jean Love said. "This will be a good opportunity to bounce back from the hard fought loss against Wingate last weekend. It will serve as a good tune up for our next conference opponent on Friday."
Conference play will then resume Friday afternoon as the Eagles make the trek to Anderson (7-4, 4-1) for their sixth SAC contest of the season.
The Trojans, who are coming off an 8-1 loss at Columbus State on March 12, field eight upperclassmen compared to only three underclassman.
Coached by Joey Eskridge, Anderson currently ranks fifth in the SAC polls. Picked to finish fourth at the end of the season the conference officials announce prior to the start of the 2016 campaign, the Trojans welcome back some experience to this year's squad.
Juan Carracedo and Mateo Rivas were tabbed to the SAC's preseason All-Conference team after redording a 2015 record of 6-7 as the team's No. 1 pairing. Carracedo was also appointed to the preseason all-singles team after completing last season's campaign with a 13-6 record as the team's No. 1 player.
Last season saw Anderson take an 8-1 win over the eagles in Jefferson City on March 16, 2015.
"Anderson will be a tough conference opponent for us," Love said. "We have held tough battles with them each of the last two seasons. We must play well and do the little things consistently in order to give ourselves a chance to win the match."
A complete recap following each day of competition against the Crusaders and Trojans can be found at cneagles.com at the conclusion of each match.
-CN-
