JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The sun was shining and the balls were flying as Carson-Newman men's tennis swung open the 2022 SAC season with a visit from the Coker Cobras (3-8. 1-2 SAC) Friday. The Eagles were able to take to the courts of the Buddy Catlett Tennis Complex for the first time in 2022, leaving as 7-0 winners.
Friday marked the second straight season for Carson-Newman (6-2, 1-0 SAC) and Coker to square off on March 4 as last year's meeting went 4-3 in favor of the Eagles from Hartsville. In last year's meeting, the Eagles started the day off winning the doubles point and from there, it was back-and-forth singles action as C-N was able to muster enough points to claim the overall victory.
Friday started off with the Eagles dominating in doubles as they would take an early 1-0 advantage and never looked back.
In number three doubles, Marnix Van Dalen (Netherlands) and Rintaro Oka (Narita, Japan) got the Eagles off on the right foot as they took a 6-1 win. From there, the doubles point was clinched in number two doubles by C-N's Ids Waterbolk (Bennekom, Netherlands) and Gjorgji Jankulovski (Macedonia) who would win 6-2.
In number one doubles, the pairing of Marc Janse (Zeewolde, Netherlands) and Lars Hordijk (Dordrecht, South Holland) garnered another win in 2022 as they finished the doubles sweep for C-N by a final of 7-5 in number one doubles.
"We didn't start off playing our best, but it is a good way to start conference play with almost no major setbacks," graduate coach Gabriel Dabdab said. "Marc and Ids both went three sets, but they were able to battle back and keep the sweep alive."
Singles competition saw the Eagles claim all six matches, as number three and five would only see a one-set eight game format.
C-N would go ahead 2-0 after Jankulovski won his number four singles match by a final of 6-3, 6-3. The freshman has been on a tear in his debut season as he looks to continue his hot start as SAC play ramps up.
From there, Marc Janse would make it 3-0 for the Eagles as he won a three-set thriller over Coker's Decaluwe. After winning the first set 6-2, Janse dropped the second set by a final of 3-6. This set up the deciding third set, which Janse took 6-4.
The score moved ahead 4-0 for C-N after Ids Waterbolk would take another three-set thriller. Playing the reigning SAC men's tennis player of the week in Nolan Smith, Waterbolk took a close 7-5 result in the first set before dropping the second set 4-6. Then, much like Janse, Waterbolk stormed back as he would clinch the win with a 6-2 third set final.
Marnix Van Dalen was the next Eagle to finish as he wrapped up a successful start to his SAC season at number one singles. Leaving little doubt, the freshman would go out and win 6-2, 6-1 and officially clinch C-N its first SAC win of 2022.
The final two matches on Friday were only a one-set eight game format for Rintaro Oka and Lars Hordijk. Oka would play in number three singles as he took the 8-2 win while Hordijk completed the sweep with a 8-4 victory in number five singles.
Carson-Newman returns to the Buddy Catlett Tennis Complex for another SAC matchup as the Limestone Saints pay Mossy Creek a visit Saturday. Opening serve between the Eagles and Saints is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon.
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.
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