JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Following the third weather postponed match of the season, the Carson-Newman men's tennis team looks ahead to hosting just its second match of the season as Salem International comes to Mossy Creek on Friday at 1:30 p.m.
This will be the first-ever meeting between C-N and the Tigers in program history.
The Eagles (0-1) were slated to travel to Athens, Tenn. this past Tuesday to take on Tennessee Wesleyan before unfavorable weather moved the match back a week.
The weather has not been on the Eagles' side as of late since head coach Jean Love's team has only played one match in 2018. That match resulted in an 8-1 loss at the hands of region foe Young Harris back on Feb. 6. The only Eagle to obtain a win this season is Jesus Bacete-Sanz (Madrid, Spain) who picked up an 8-3 singles win in the team's loss to the Mountain Lions.
While the Eagles were swept in all three doubles matchups in the match, the closest they came close to winning a doubles faceoff was at the second-seeded position with Bacete-Sanz and Taylor Barie (Woodstock, Ga.), but the duo came up two points shy in the 8-6 defeat.
"My expectation for the men's team is that we will play much better against Salem," Love said. "I expect certain doubles teams and individuals to 'show up' this time."
The Tigers (2-1) come into the match on the heels of a 9-0 shutout loss to Wingate on Wednesday, the team's first defeat of the season. The top doubles match was a hard-fought battle as the freshman duo of Patryk Garwacki and Gregor Lainer ultimately fell to Daniel Belsito and Josh DuToi 8-7. Wingate swept the rest of the doubles matches and cruised to straight-set victories in the first five singles matches. The six spot saw senior Landon Schultz-Zwahr fall in back-to-back sets, 7-5 and 7-5.
They will travel to Chowan for a Thursday afternoon meeting before heading to Mossy Creek to face the Eagles on Friday.
The Tigers shutout Mount Vernon Nazarene to open the season followed by a 5-4 win over Findlay that came down to the last match on the court, ending with freshman Ivan Arevalo picking up the win at the No. 5 spot. He lost the first set 6-0 before rallying back to win the final two sets, breaking the tie and giving Salem its second straight victory.
Coached by Todd Tucker, Salem's 13-man roster features a slew of youth with just a trio of juniors and a pair of seniors in Schultz-Zwahr and Garrett Welch.
2017 was not ideal for the Tigers as they went 3-15, missing out on postseason play. Their largest margin of victory was an 8-1 win over Virginia Union, but they were swept on six occasions through the duration of the campaign.
Friday's match is slated to begin with a first serve at 1:30 p.m. at the Buddy Catlett Tennis Complex. Live stats will be available for the duration of the match with a recap to follow on cneagles.com.
