HICKORY, N.C. – Losing all three doubles matches, Carson-Newman fell into an early that was too steep to battle back from, falling to Lenoir-Rhyne 8-1 on Friday at the YMCA of Catawba Valley.
The Eagles (2-8, 0-4 SAC) extend their losing skid to four-straight matches, matching the same total that opened the season.
Lenoir-Rhyne (11-4, 2-2 SAC) got off to a strong start at the No. 2 spot as the Bears' duo of Tomas Hons and Shane O'Dea defeated Gabriel Dabdab (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and Jesus Bacete-Sanz (Madrid, Spain) in an 8-3 decision that was followed by another L-R win at the three-spot as Marc Bantel (Germany) and Taylor Barie (Woodstock, Ga.) fell to Tales Miranda and Alex Crespo Sanchez in a stout 8-2 match.
The closest the Eagles came to snatching a win in doubles was at the top-seeded spot with Rodolfo Schwarz (Brazil) and Kevin Mendes (Chattanooga, Tenn.). The duo kept the match interesting as they stayed neck and neck with Hamed Gandouz and Paul Lenz at 7-7 to force the match into a tiebreaker that was ultimately won by the Bears' tandem, giving them a 3-0 lead heading into the second half of the day.
Dabdab fell quickly at the top-seeded position to Gandouz in straight sets, 6-0 and 6-3.
At the No. 2 spot, Schwarz went down 6-3 in the first set to Miranda before bouncing back in the second set with a 6-4 decision to send the match into a tiebreaker. Miranda held off the C-N senior with a 6-2 third set victory to hand the Bears the win, up 5-0.
Much of the same happened as the third-seeded match got underway with Hons taking the first set of the No. 3 spot match with a 6-3 advantage over Bantel. The second set went to a tiebreaker that was won by Bantel 7-6 but the third set saw Hons grab the 10-3 victory.
The lone win for the Eagles came at the six-spot as Mendes taking a powerful 8-2 win over Crespo Sanchez. The match marked Mendes' first return to singles play since he went down with an injury against Tennessee Wesleyan on Feb. 20.
Bacete-Sanz fell in an 8-5 match at the fifth-spot to Lenz before a three-set tiebreaker ended the day at the No. 4 position.
Barie won the first set with a 6-2 score over Alex Ayguavives before falling in the second match 6-4. In the final set, Barie fell in a close 10-8 showing.
The Eagles venture back to Mossy Creek on Sunday to host the Cobras of Coker. That match will begin at 1 p.m. at the Buddy Catlett Tennis Complex.
