JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – No. 24 ranked Carson-Newman men's tennis (10-4, 4-1 SAC) will look to regain their winning ways after dropping their first SAC contest of the spring last weekend. The Eagles will continue their SAC road trip on Wednesday as they travel to Mars Hill before returning back home and welcoming in nationally ranked Wingate on Saturday for a battle of wits.
Carson-Newman comes into this week after securing a split of results, taking down east Tennesse rival Lincoln Memorial before falling to Lenoir-Rhyne in Hickory last Saturday. Last Tuesday saw the Eagles and Railsplitters do battle from Jefferson City as, for the first time since 2009, it was C-N winning 6-1 and staying unblemished in conference play. However, it was short-lived as Saturday saw the host Bears remain the lone undefeated men's team in SAC play as they defeated C-N 5-2.
Prior to their victory over LMU, the Eagles had dropped 13 straight matches to their east Tennessee foe. However, they were able to overcome the odds and also pick up their fourth SAC win in back-to-back seasons, a feat which has not occurred since the same 2009 season as well.
The Eagles were able to sweep doubles as they would win 6-1 at no. two, 6-3 at no. one, and 6-2 at no. three.
"Yeah, I've been here for three years now and it hurt to see us lose the last two seasons by a 4-3 score. We knew we could come out on top if we played our best, which is something I think not only myself but the team did today," junior Ids Waterbolk said.
Singles competition against the Railsplitters saw the Eagles claim all six matches, as no match would go longer than the two-set minimum.
The Eagles would secure the overall win after freshman Gjorgji Jankulovski swept his number four singles match. This is the second straight home match for C-N which has seen the freshman become the match clincher after he did so against DI foe, Austin Peay on March 17. The Macedonia native handled his business with scores of 7-5, 6-2.
"Everyone is excited and ready to continue conference play. We will celebrate and enjoy this win," Waterbolk said. "Every match from now on is a big win."
On Saturday against the no. 30 Bears, C-N faltered and saw their first SAC loss of the 2022 season be handed to them. Doubles would fall in favor of L-R as only no. two doubles would be won by C-N's Marc Janse (Zeewolde, Netherlands) and Lars Hordijk (Dordrecht, South Holland). The pair clinched C-N's lone doubles win on Saturday as they defeated Hemmings/Hernandez of the Bears by a final of 6-3.
"We did not play our best today and the match results show that," head coach Jim Frederick said. "A good team takes what happened today and responds and overcomes any challenges. Our next match versus Mars Hill is one we should be able to control so we need to respond and play at our highest level come Wednesday."
Singles competition saw the Eagles claim two out of the six matches, as they were victorious at the number four and five positions.
Junior Ids Waterbolk (Bennekom, Netherlands) got C-N on the board with one of the two singles win on Saturday. After inching out a 7-6 first set victory, the 6-9 junior used his height to his advantage in set two as he pulled away 6-4 and got C-N's first point of the day.
The Eagles got one more win as freshman Gjorgji Jankulovski won a three-set thriller by scores of 7-6, 2-6, 6-1. This secured the final score overall to be 5-2 as the Eagles look to regroup and remain as one of the best programs in the 2022 SAC standings.
"We got outplayed today and despite the final score being what it is, the match results show how tight we played and how much we seemed to fight our way back into this," Frederick said. "I think it's time for our program to acknowledge the shortcomings and work on them as SAC play continues."
SCOUTING MARS HILL
In last year's meeting, Carson-Newman would clean sweep the Lions by a final of 7-0 on their home courts of the Buddy Catlett Tennis Complex.
Marc Janse would be among the sleuth of Eagles victories as he claimed his 10th single win of 2021 by scores of 7-5, 6-0. The other notable aspect of C-N's sweep of the Lions came from Joshua Ott (Knoxville, Tenn.), who absolutely dominated his singles match as he walked home with a 6-0, 6-1 result and another crucial SAC win under his belt for the 2020-21 season.
The Lions (3-11, 0-7 SAC) last saw action on March 24 against the Limestone Saints. The Saints were able to handle their own and sweep Mars Hill 7-0, thus handing the Lions their fourth sweep in SAC play for 2022. The result also moved MHU's losing streak to seven straight as they last won on Feb. 19 against Southern Wesleyan.
When it comes to C-N versus Mars Hill, the Eagles have won five straight over their SAC foe including the last three trips to Mars Hill. The last home win for Mars Hill over the Eagles came in April 2012 when the Lions were victorious 5-4 over the visiting Eagles.
SCOUTING NO. 29 WINGATE
In the 2021 matchup between the Eagles and Bulldogs, Wingate kept their top spot in the SAC as they defeated C-N 6-1.
The highlight for C-N was once more Marc Janse who kept his singles record in SAC play unblemished as he moves to 7-0 in 2021 against SAC foes. Janse saw his number two singles battle go to all three sets as he kept the fight and was victorious with a 1-6, 7-5, 7-6 decision.
In the series history between the two programs, Wingate maintains their head-to-head dominance as they are now 12-0 against C-N overall. Last year's result matches the closest result between the two when action takes place in Wingate since C-N lost 7-2 to Wingate in 2017.
So far this season, no. 29 Wingate (6-5, 4-1 SAC) has seen its ups and downs. The Bulldogs have won two out of their last three SAC matches as their lone conference loss this season came at the hands of Queens (N.C.) on March 21 by a final of 4-3. Since their loss, the Bulldogs have rattled off two straight wins over SAC foes Newberry (6-1) and UVA Wise (7-0).
Against the Wolves, Wingate would drop the doubles point as they lost two out of three matches. However, they quickly responded with victories in all six singles matches as two of the results finished in three sets.
Against the Cavaliers, Wingate rolled to a dominant 7-0 victory including sweeping all three doubles matches and seeing all six singles matches finish in the two-set minimum.
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.
Wingate will hold a tough week as they will play host to no. 30 Lenoir-Rhyne on Tuesday before making the trip to Jefferson City for another ranked matchup with the beloved Eagles.
Opening serve between C-N and the Lions is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. Wednesday from Mars Hill. Meanwhile, the Eagles and Bulldogs square off with first serve at 10 a.m. Saturday morning from the Buddy Catlett Tennis Complex.
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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