KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Heading into their final weekend of nonconference matches, Carson-Newman men's tennis will look to continue their hot start to 2022 as they return to Knoxville for a pair of Saturday matches. The Eagles will square off with the Belmont Abbey Crusaders (4-9, 0-0 CC) early Saturday morning before facing the Lee Flames (3-1, 0-0 GSC) Saturday night.

Carson-Newman (4-1, 0-0 SAC) returns to action after a 10-day break since last competing on Feb. 15 against the Sewanee Tigers in Sewanee, Tenn.

The match came down to the No. 1 and 5 on singles. Sewanee led 4-3 after taking doubles; match note: Division III is the only one left in college that uses all nine points in a match instead of doubles counting as one point

The action got started as both programs looked ahead to gaining the early advantage and going up 1-0 early on after doubles. The Eagles would only see one victory in the three doubles matches, coming from the number one position via Marc Janse (Zeewolde, Netherlands) and Lars Hordijk (Dordrecht, South Holland).

The pair would face off with Noah/Olps from the home Tigers program as they notched a 8-7 (5-7) win and started off strong for the third straight nonconference match.

Once singles started, Marc Janse got the Eagles rolling in the right direction from number two singles. The junior saw a near perfect two-set sweep as he defeated Jd of Sewanee, 6-0, 6-1, to push his 2022 record to 4-1, matching the team's overall record.

The Eagles then also saw freshman Gjorgji Jankulovski keep the winning ways rolling as he played number four singles. The C-N freshman would come out on top after pulling out a 6-1, 6-1 result.

Then, Ids Waterbolk (Bennekom, Netherlands) who came into Tuesday as the lone Eagle to hold an unblemished record in 2022, going 8-0 over both doubles and singles was on fire yet again. The junior bounced back from the loss in doubles to right the ship as he won once more from number six singles, 4-6, 6-2, 5-3.

Finally, it all came down to the efforts of Marnix Van Dalen who came into Tuesday after winning his first singles match of the spring last Saturday. The freshman took the first set 6-1 before falling in the second 4-6. It all came down to the third and final set between Sewanee and the Eagles.

Well, luck be a lady in favor of C-N as Van Dalen mustered every last ounce of strength as he clinched the final point and gave C-N the overall 5-4 victory by winning the deciding set 7-5.

"There were a couple matches today where we did not play our best tennis, but still came out with the win which is what counts in the end of the day," graduate coach Gabriel Dabdab said.

SCOUTING BELMONT ABBEY

Carson-Newman and Belmont Abbey last squared off in a similar format as part of a three-team match day last February. In the previous meeting, it was the Eagles getting their first win of the spring 2021 season as they defeated BAC 6-1.

After dropping the doubles point to start the day, Carson-Newman stormed back in singles action to win every match and take the overall team victory, thanks to victories from Marc Janse, Rintaro Oka, Joshua Ott, and Ids Waterbolk.

Belmont Abbey has gotten off to a slow start in 2022 as they won only one out of their last 10 matches, as they defeated fellow SAC program Tusculum 5-2 on Feb. 18.

The most recent action came for BAC against Furman and Presbyterian last weekend. Against the Paladins, it was a 6-1 defeat as Furman won the doubles point with wins at number one and three doubles. From there, Furman would take the result and points from flights one through four and number six in singles as Belmont Abbey's lone win came at number five singles thanks to Rowe.

Meanwhile, against the Blue Hose of Presbyterian, it was two doubles and six singles wins which sealed BAC's fate as they were handed a 7-0 loss at home. The doubles point belonged to the Blue Hose as they won from number one and three doubles before they would go on and clean sweep all six singles matches.

Prior to arriving at the Knoxville Racquet Club, Belmont Abbey would see three matches on Thursday from Harrogate as they faced off with the home-side Railsplitters and hold two matches against Union as well. The Crusaders swept LMU 7-0 before falling in both matches to Union by scores of 7-0 and 6-1. 

SCOUTING LEE

The last meeting between Lee and Carson-Newman came almost a year to Saturday's date as the two squared off last February as well. The Eagles battled for every match but would fall short as Lee defended home courts and won 5-2.

"The boys could have and should have won the doubles point being up 4-2 in the matches, one in 3 sets and one after having 4 set points," head coach Jim Frederick stated. "They did fight and I'm very proud of that effort."

Joshua Ott (Knoxville, Tenn.) was a star for the Eagles. He was one of the lone Eagles to claim a singles victory by his score of 5-7, 6-0, 1-0 (10-6) at the no. 6 singles slot. Beyond Ott, Julian Froehlich was the only Eagle point-giver when he came away with a 6-2, 7-5 win from the no. 5 singles spot.

So far in 2022, Lee has been nearly perfect as they have gone 3-1 in their first four matches, only holding a loss to nationally-ranked West Florida to start the season. Since their loss, the Flames have rebounded and hold wins over Spring Hill, Lincoln Memorial, and Tusculum.

In their last match of 2022 against Tusculum, Lee opened up the home portion of their schedule with a 5-2 win over the Pioneers.

"That was a gritty win for our guys," said Lee head coach Patric Hynes. "Our doubles set a great tone for the match today. Diego (Garcia) and Jordi (Dasi) got us off to a great start and Drew (Johnston) and Wihan (Van Der Merwe) stood up under pressure."

Deigo Garcia and Jordi Dasi won their bout at number two doubles before seeing the doubles point be secured by teammates Drew Johnston and Wihan Van Der Merwe. From there, the Flames would go on and win four of the six singles matches in order to capture their third straight win of 2022.

"Jordi got us an important win," added Hynes. "To get a quick win like that helped us put pressure on."  

The Flames will face the Belmont Abbey Crusaders Saturday afternoon before playing the Eagles later that night.

Opening serve between C-N and Belmont Abbey is slated for 11:00 a.m. before the Eagles and Flames hold the nightcap with first serve at 7:30 p.m. All action will take place from the Knoxville Racquet Club Saturday.

"I would rather have it this way where we have a break in between matches instead of playing two back-to-back like our opponents will," Frederick said. "We know both opponents are very good and top tier, but we also know that playing these type of matches allow us to get the recruits we want and showcase our program."  

Be sure to keep up with all things Carson-Newman men's tennis at cneagles.com and on social media on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

-CN-