BRISTOL, Tenn.—The Carson-Newman men's tennis team finished the 2016 season with an 8-1 loss at King Sunday afternoon in what served as senior Juan Sebastian Perez's (Ecuador) final day in an Eagle uniform.
"We cleared the bench today and everyone came in a did a great job," coach Jean Love said following the match. "It was a good day of tennis."
Perez competed in the No. 1 spot for Love's singles lineup Sunday afternoon for the first time this season. The reunion with the top-spot was not a memorable one, however, as Perez fell 7-6, 6-2 to King's (12-10) Moritz Poswiat in the match.
Perez also lost in the senior's final doubles contest of his career after linking up with Marc Bantel (Urbach, Germany) to fall 8-6 in the first doubles contest of the day.
Sunday's outcomes are not what the senior had in mind for his final match but it does not diminish the services the Ecuadorian has provided for this program over the past four years.
Perez finishes his career with a 33-44 mark in singles play while having competed in either one of the first two slots in singles for the entirety of his career. The senior wraps up the 2016 season with a team-leading 11 singles wins and put together seven-straight victories from March 18 to April 2.
"Juan from day one as a freshman has either played at No. 1 or No. 2 singles and at doubles. He has been a really solid player for us at the top of the lineup his entire career," Love said. "That is what you have to have. You have to have someone that is good enough and is willing to take on the best of the best from every team. He has improved each and every year he has been here."
The Eagles (6-14) began the afternoon by dropping a pair of matches in doubles play to go down 2-1 after the first round of action.
Following Perez and Bantel's loss at No. 1 doubles, Jordan Knott (Louisville, Ky.) and Jerry Hughes (Shelbyville, Tenn.) fell 8-4 in the third-contest to King's Kyle Logue and Lenny Keswani.
Carson-Newman's lone victory of the day came from the second-seeded doubles pairing of Lee Presson (Crossville, Tenn.) and Kevin Mendes (Woodstock, Ga.). The duo defeated Jannis Walter and Phillipp Lindauer 8-4 to pick up their seventh win of the season together.
Aside from the win at No. 2 doubles, Carson-Newman could not put another point on the scorecard as King ran away with the match for a final of 8-1.
Bantel dropped a three-setter to Keswani in the No. 2 singles contest 6-1, 4-6 and 6-4 while Mendes fell to Luis Delgado 6-2 in two sets at No. 3.
Knott would come out on the short wnd of a 6-1, 6-1 outcome in the fourth-seeded contest and Presson dropped an 8-2 decision to Logue at No. 5 as the match had already been decided.
Carson-Newman concluded the day with an 8-3 loss at No. 6 from Kyle Stills (Brownsville, Tenn.).
To stay up-to-date with Carson-Newman men's tennis during the offseason, stay tuned into cneagles.com for coverage.
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