KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – For the first time in 2021, Carson-Newman men's tennis (1-1, 0-0 SAC) is on the victory board. C-N were able to overcome the Belmont Abbey Crusaders (0-2, 0-0 CC) by a team score of 6-1 to start Saturday.
The Eagles started off battling back-and-forth in all three doubles pairings but were not able to gain the valuable doubles point to start. In the end, Carson-Newman (1-1, 0-0 SAC) storms back in singles action to not only win every match but take the overall team victory and give Belmont Abbey their second straight 2021 loss.
Despite losing at No. 1 doubles along with teammate sophomore Ids Waterbolk (Bennekom, Netherlands), grad student Gabriel Dabdab (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) was able to turn his day around with a 6-1, 6-1 thumping at No. 5 singles over BAC's Rowe to make the matchup even at 1 apiece.
Sophomore Marc Janse (Zeewolde, Netherlands) continued the Eagles success in singles as he pulled C-N ahead 2-1 in the match with his 6-1, 7-5 triumph for his first singles win on the early season. The team victory came for the Eagles when junior Rintaro Oka (Narita, Japan) was the victor in his No. 2 singles spot, winning 6-1, 6-1 over Shiell of Belmont Abbey.
Doubles was not the forte of Carson-Newman as they lose both the No. 2 and 3 doubles matchups. Belmont Abbey was able to gain the doubles point with 6-3 and 7-5 victories, but Carson-Newman took over when singles play started and never looked back.
Once it got to singles action, the court was all Eagles. Grad student Julian Froechlich (Kobenz, Austria) gained a 6-1, 6-7, 10-3 victory in the no. 4 spot. Sophomore Joshua Ott (Knoxville, Tenn.) was slated in the no. 6 singles position, but gained his first 2021 singles win with a 6-4, 5-7, 10-4 thrilling three-set victory. At No. 3 singles, Waterbolk continued his 2021 early success with a three-set thriller over his Crusader comrade, winning by a score of 6-3, 3-6, 10-8.
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