JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn.—The Carson-Newman men's tennis team capped of its 2016 home schedule with a 1-8 loss to Tusculum Tuesday afternoon as the Eagles celebrated senior Juan Sebastian Perez's (Ecuador) final home match at the Buddy Catlett Tennis Complex.
"The main thing that I want my seniors to know is how special a time it has been. Each of them has grown as a tennis player since they have been here, but we have gotten to know each other as human beings," coach Jean Love said following the match. "It has been a great ride. Obviously we would have like to have won today, but when it's all said and done, you might not always remember all the wins and losses. But you do remember the people and the relationships. All four of these seniors, girls included, they are fun people and they are good people. I hope that they will be able to look back on this time and have some fond memories."
Tusculum (18-2, 9-1 SAC) did not waste any time in spoiling Perez's day as the second-best team in the South Atlantic Conference swept all three doubles contest from the Eagles (6-13, 3-8 SAC) to begin the afternoon.
Perez linked up with Stafano Daza (Venezuela) to compete at No. 1 singles. The duo ran into the roadblock of Jonas Winkelmann and Tim Stierle and lost 8-2. Jesus Bacete-Sanz (Madrid, Spain) and Joao Pedro Oliveira (Brazil) followed with another 8-2 loss in the second-seeded contest and Lee Presson (Crossville, Tenn.) and Kevin Mendes (Woodstock, Ga.) finished off the round of play with an 8-3 loss at No. 3.
The Pioneers would then carry on the momentum into singles play as Stierle would make quick work of the Eagles' leadoff man Oliveira in 6-2, 6-0 fashion.
Perez, Carson-Newman's lone senior, would then put the Eagles on the board for the only time in the contest by picking up a quick 6-4, 6-2 win at No. 2.
Tusculum would then finish off the afternoon with four-straight singles wins to take home the 8-1 conference victory.
Daza lost 6-1, 6-0 to Winkelmann in the third-seeded contest while Marc Bantel (Urbach, Germany) fell 6-4, 6-3 at No. 4. With the match already decided, Mendes would lose to Leon Seiz 8-5 in the fifth-pairing and Bacete-Sanz would conclude the afternoon in the sixth-match losing 8-1.
"We just didn't come out well at all and that hasn't happened much this season," Love said. "The guys have given such great effort all year, but they were just flat from the get-go today. That has not been the norm for sure. Juan's singles victory on Senior Day was obviously special, but he has been on a good run of singles lately. Ever since he arrived on campus four years ago, he has played at the top of the lineup. He has continued to grow and get better and this year he really showed some good maturity playing good tennis."
Carson-Newman will compete in its final match of the season on Sunday at King beginning at 2:00 p.m.
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