JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman men's tennis (9-3, 3-0 SAC) now turn their attention to South Atlantic Conference play for the remainder of the 2022 spring season starting this week. The Eagles will play host to east Tennessee rival, Lincoln Memorial, on Tuesday before heading back on the road once more for a matchup with the Lenoir-Rhyne Bears on Saturday.
Carson-Newman comes into this week after securing two wins, one from their home courts and one on the road. The Eagles were able to handle business against the Austin Peay Governors on Thursday as they won 6-1 from the Buddy Catlett Tennis Complex in Jefferson City before absolutely dominating UVA Wise on Saturday en route to their third SAC win of 2022 with a clean 7-0 sweep while on the road.
Thursday saw the Eagles looking to respond after being swept by NAIA powerhouse Tennessee Wesleyan. Well, C-N looked to have short-term memory as they started off the day with an early 1-0 advantage after taking the doubles point with wins at the number two and three position.
"Doubles match was pretty tough as we lost from number one," freshman Gjorgji Jankulovski said. "But we won the doubles point which is what matters."
Singles competition saw the Eagles claim five of the six matches, as they suffered a setback in number one singles.
Of the five singles wins, only one would go past the two-set minimum as Ids Waterbolk won his first set 6-2 before dropping a close second set by a score of 6-7. From there, the junior mustered enough strength to take home the 10-4 third set decision and seal the 6-1 team win for C-N.
However, the match was purely decided early on as Gjorgji Jankulovski pulled out another win for his spring season total with final scores of 7-5, 6-1.
"I had a rough start but after that, I won the match and rallied to help defeat a Division I school," Jankulovski said. "I'm not surprised we won because we have been practicing for this and now we're ready for conference and any match in the future."
On Saturday against the Cavaliers, C-N secured their ninth win of the spring, something which has not occurred along the banks of Mossy Creek since 2009-10 when the Eagles finished 9-8 overall. As the host school only fitted out five athletes, only two out of three doubles matches would see action while five out of six singles would see true action.
C-N took both doubles matches by scores of 6-1 and 6-0 as they looked to capture their fourth clean sweep of the spring. Singles action between C-N and UVA Wise was nothing short of impressive for the Eagles as they only dropped two games altogether.
"We are good and they are bad," head coach Jim Frederick said.
SCOUTING LINCOLN MEMORIAL
In last year's meeting, it was LMU claiming their 13th straight match over the Eagles and third straight by a final of 4-3. The Railsplitters defended home court by taking doubles and the early 1-0 advantage over C-N. 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.
The Eagles were unsuccessful from number one, four, and six singles as LMU rallied back and took the near margin victory.
The Railsplitters were last in action this previous weekend as they visited the Mars Hill Lions for SAC action. #47 ranked LMU was able to better the host Lions, moving to 3-1 in SAC and 9-6 overall.
The team got early momentum as they took the doubles point before taking four out of six singles matches en route to victory. Thom Hermans was solid from number one singles as he claimed his third conference win as well as a win in number three doubles.
"Mars Hill came out fired up and ready to play, and we had to dodge a few bullets to get those doubles points," said head coach Mark Walters. "Our freshmen did well to adjust to being on the road for the first time this year, and this was a test for them."
SCOUTING LENOIR-RHYNE
In the 2021 matchup between the Eagles and Bears, it was L-R winning 5-2 and handing C-N their third straight SAC loss of the season.
One bright spot for C-N came as Marc Janse was once again impressive as he took home a 4-6, 7-6, 6-3 triumph over his L-R opposition.
"The men could have easily only lost by a score of 4-3," head coach Jim Frederick said. "We were just outmatched and outplayed in some matches."
The other win for C-N came by way of Gabriel Dabdab, who came away with another crucial SAC singles victory in hopes of sparking his team. Dabdab was the 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 victor on Saturday and moved his season record to 7-4 at the number four/five singles position.
"The boys came back from two matches to none down and having lost the first three sets in the matches on the court," Frederick said. "However, they were able to eventually win two of those matches."
Prior to this week, Lenoir-Rhyne was in action against the Catawba College Catawba Indians as they notched their fifth straight victory, as the team has not lost since Feb. 13 against Francis Marion.
Against the Indians, the Bears won two out of three doubles matches before capturing five out of six singles matches en route to a 6-1 overall victory. Doubles saw Mauricio Hernandez and Joel Hemmings win at number two doubles while Patrik Alvestrand and Lewis Scott won from number three doubles. The lone singles loss for L-R came from number two singles as Catawba won 6-2, 6-3 by way of Tyler Juergens.
The Bears hold a busy week ahead as they will be in action Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday before hosting the Eagles on Saturday. The week gets started for L-R with a home make-up match against Lees-McRae on Monday at 2 p.m.
Opening serve between C-N and the Railsplitters is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. Tuesday while the Eagles and Bears get underway at 2:00 p.m. Saturday afternoon. Tuesday will take place from the confines of the Buddy Catlett Tennis Complex before the Eagles head to Hickory for Saturday afternoon battle.
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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