CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Facing a doubles sweep and large scoring differentials in early singles action, the Eagles could not overcome No. 15 Queens, falling 8-1 in Saturday's 2018 season finale at the Queens Sports Complex.
Carson-Newman (3-13, 1-9 SAC) closes the year on a two-match losing streak, still unable to see a victory over the Royals (9-3, 8-1 SAC) since the series began in 2014.
Gabriel Dabdab (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and Jesus Bacete-Sanz (Madrid, Spain) saw their five-match winning streak come to an end at the No. 2 spot as the duo fell to Agustin Aran Martin and Sebastian Meum, 8-5, to start the day.
Teaming up at the three-seed, Marc Bantel (Germany) and Taylor Barie (Woodstock, Ga.) mirrored their teammates with an 8-5 loss to Kasper Rolfsen and Eugeno Zanasi.
A closer contest came at the top spot with the senior pairing of Rodolfo Schwarz (Brazil) and Kevin Mendes (Chattanooga, Tenn.) facing Julian Bosch and Joel Dunlap. The Eagles pair stayed within reach with a tiebreaker at sevens, but the Queens duo took the final point for an 8-7 victory, forcing C-N to face a 3-0 deficit heading into singles play.
Schwarz was the first Eagle to conclude his singles match in the afternoon with a 6-1, 6-0 loss to Aran Martin at the No. 2 spot before Mendes' fifth-seeded match with Dunlap also ended in 6-1, 6-0 sets, clinching the Royals victory early at 5-0.
At the No. 1 spot, Dabdab fell to Bosch in straight-sets, 6-2 and 6-4, followed up with Barie losing to Rolfsen at the four-seed, 6-2 and 6-3.
The lone win for C-N came at the No. 3 spot as Bantel took the first set over Meum 7-6. The junior kept the momentum on his side in the second set with a 6-3 win to cut the Eagles' deficit, 7-1.
The day ended with a battle at the No. 6 position as Joseph Stiles (New Oxford, Pa.) took Zanasi to an extra point as the Queens side took a 7-5 decision in the first set before the second set went to a 6-6 tie that ended with Stiles losing, 7-6.
The Eagles close the season at 10th in the SAC standings.
Throughout the offseason, stay updated on all Carson-Newman men's tennis news on cneagles.com.
