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VIDEO: Jim Frederick Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – For the first time this season, Carson-Newman faced a 7-0 shutout, falling to Delta State on Thursday afternoon at the Buddy Catlett Tennis Complex.
Before today, the last time Carson-Newman (5-5) failed to win a match was in the final two matches of the 2019 season, falling to Lenoir-Rhyne and Wingate 7-0 and 6-0, respectively.
The Eagles took Delta State (8-0) to three sets in just one of the singles matches as Gabriel Dabdab (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) saw his four-match winning streak come to an end.
"The guys were a huge disappointment," Carson-Newman coach Jim Frederick said. "It's the first match of the year that they didn't compete. They weren't very undisciplined except for one – Gabriel Dabdab played a great match. I was just really disappointed in the way we competed."
The Eagles could not escape doubles play with a win, falling in each of the three flights.
Marc Janse (Zeewolde, Netherlands) and Rintaro Oka (Narita, Japan) fell in a 6-0 shutout to Emile Le Terrier and Trey Seymour at the No. 1 game. Not close behind in a 6-1 defeat were Julian Froehlich (Kobenz, Austria) and Ids Waterbolk (Bennekom, Netherlands) at the hands of Come Bracaval and Leo De Sousa. The final doubles flight came down to Dabdab and Joshua Ott (Knoxville, Tenn.) at No. 2, falling 6-3 to Hugo Stroppiana and Mason Vice.
The Statesmen kept control of the match through the opening portion of singles play with straight-set wins.
Oka saw a two-set defeat against the Intercollegiate Tennis Associational's (ITA) No. 26 player in the nation, Le Terrier at No. 1, 6-3 and 6-2. In the fifth-flight, Waterbolk faced back-to-back 6-3 losses to De Sousa, ranked 48th in the nation.
Dabdab looked to have a chance to put C-N back in the match at the third-flight taking on the No. 36 singles player in the nation in the ITA standings in Stroppiana. The Eagles' senior won the first set in a close 7-5 decision until Stroppina forced a third set with a 6-3 win. The game stayed close in the final set but Stroppiana took a 6-4, giving Delta State a 4-0 match-clinching win with three matches left to play.
Janse fell in straight 6-3 sets to Emiliano Elizarraraz at the No. 2 match with Julian Froehlich falling to Seymour at the No. 5, 6-0 and 6-2.
In the final match of the day, Ott could not overcome Bracaval, dropping two sets, 6-1 and 6-0.
Saturday's previously scheduled match with Bluefield has been canceled. The Eagles will return to action on Wednesday with a South Atlantic Conference trip to Virginia Wise. That match is set to begin at 3:30 p.m.
