VIDEO: Jim Frederick Previews ITA Southeast Regional Qualifier
SUMTER, S.C. – Seven members of the Carson-Newman men's tennis team have been selected to play in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Southeast Regional Qualifier in Sumter, South Carolina from Friday, Sept. 24th to Monday, Sept. 27th.
Returning to the event for C-N will be senior Rintaro Oka (Narita, Japan) and junior Marc Janse (Zeewolde, Netherlands) after competing in the event two years ago. Last time in the event, Janse won his round of 64 matchup before losing in the round of 32 to start his Eagles fall career.
"I think this team knows that we tell them to take every match one point at a time and we'll be happy with the result either way," head coach Jim Frederick said. "It's nice to have the returners back but these freshman have shined like we wanted them to so far and they can definitely help our team this year."
The Eagles are coming off an appearance in the Wingate Invitational where the Eagles saw a pair of individual championships be secured by some newcomers. Freshman Marnix Van Dalen (Netherlands) battled his way to a spot in the men's "blue" singles East finals. He was deemed the overall winner after his opponent withdrew to injury.
Freshman Richard Dulganov (Hungary) also made his C-N debut in the Wingate Invitational as part of the men's "purple" singles East finals. Much like his freshman peer, Van Dalen, it was a no-contest and walk-over win for Dulganov to capture the overall victory.
The final Eagle who made his triumphant debut in Wingate was former team manager turned player, sophomore Lars Hordijk (Dordrecht, South Holland). Hordijk claimed three straight victories in the event as he ended his time from the Tar Heel State with a 3-0 record overall.
Junior Marc Janse (Zeewolde, Netherlands) finished his fall tournament debut in 2021 in the men's "blue" 3-4 playoff. Fellow junior Ids Waterbolk (Bennekom, Netherlands) completed his time as the winner of the men's "green" 3-4 playoff.
Senior Rintaro Oka (Narita, Japan) was in action as part of the men's "red" draw South finals against Paul Dekester.
For the ITA Southeast Regionals, the team representatives were chosen based on their universal tennis rankings, or UTR, which rate a player's abilities based on past performances in tournaments that are officially recognized by the ITA.
"We normally only get three or four athletes for the ITAs, so getting seven athletes to qualify is pleasantly surprising for us," Frederick said. "The qualification comes from individual UTR and for us to have this many athletes qualify shows that our program is rising in the category and can compete."
Be sure to keep up with Carson-Newman men's tennis across the Eagles' social media platforms.
