HARROGATE, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (4-6, 2-2 SAC) returned to a matchup against a South Atlantic Conference foe Wednesday. The Eagles squared off with Lincoln Memorial (3-7, 2-4) from the LMU Tennis Complex where LMU claimed their 13th straight match over the Eagles. For the third time in as many matches, the final score was 4-3, once again in favor of the home team of LMU who successfully defend home court.
Heading into Wednesday's match, grad student Gabriel Dabdab (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and sophomore Marc Janse (Zeewolde, Netherlands) lead the team with individual singles records of 5-4. In doubles, the pair of Janse and junior Rintaro Oka (Narita, Japan) have only been together for two matches but hold an unblemished record at 2-0 in 2021. As for LMU, they only have one player with a winning record in singles as Jake Tuchmann sits at 5-3 before Wednesday's matchup. In doubles, the Railsplitters are led by the pair of Luca Pavan and Turner Thomas who are 2-1 as a pair in 2021.
Wednesday's match was all about momentum and using the upper hand when grasping it. LMU started the day off winning doubles as Moure and Colla were victorious at number one doubles by a 6-2 margin. The Railsplitters followed that up with a 7-6 victory from number three doubles. The C-N pair of Janse and junior Rintaro Oka (Narita, Japan) claimed the lone Eagles victory in doubles by a score of 7-6. However, once singles action began, C-N stormed their way to three straight victories and took the overall 3-2 match lead prior to LMU mounting the final comeback to claim victory.
Moure was the provider of LMU's second team point when he won his match at number one singles by scores of 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 over C-N's Oka. Colla continued his successful day with a 6-2, 6-3 triumph at number four singles over grad student Julian Froehlich (Kobenz, Austria) of C-N before Pavan clinched the 4-3 team victory for LMU from number six singles, compiling a 6-3, 6-1 victory over sophomore Joshua Ott (Knoxville, Tenn,).
Both Janse and Dabdab improved to 6-4 on the year in singles as Dabdab claimed a 7-6. 6-2 victory at number five singles while Janse held the number two singles spot and find himself the 6-2, 6-1 winner. The other Eagle to make sure the match did not get entirely out of hand was sophomore Ids Waterbolk (Bennekom, Netherlands). Waterbolk saw yet another three set thriller in his singles action, but this time was able to be the victor. He started off losing the first set 6-3 before rallying back and taking the final two sets and the point by a score of 6-4 in sets two and three. This was crucial as it gave the Eagles their 3-2 advantage prior to LMU having the final say.
The Eagles are back at home for two straight matches as they host Lenoir-Rhyne on Saturday before Newberry pays Mossy Creek a visit Sunday afternoon.
Be sure to keep up with all things Carson-Newman men's tennis on cneagles.com and via all social media accounts.
-CN-
