ROCK HILL, S.C. – Ahead of their second consecutive trip to the SAC Championships, 33rd- ranked Carson-Newman men's tennis places a quartet of athletes on All-SAC teams, for both singles and doubles. It is freshman Marnix Van Dalen (Netherlands) leading the way in singles with a place on the All-SAC first team, while teammates Lars Hordijk (Dordrecht, South Holland) and Marc Janse (Zeewolde, Netherlands) are placed on the All-SAC second team for doubles.
Van Dalen is joined in all conference singles honors by fellow freshman Gjorgji Jankulovski (Macedonia) and Marc Janse as both are seen as second team honorees. This is the first All-SAC for a Carson-Newman men's tennis athlete since Marc Janse was named to first team singles following the 2020-21 season.
Heading into the first round of the 2022 SAC men's tennis Championships, Van Dalen has cemented his legacy early on as he looks to wrap up his first season as an Eagle on a high note. So far in 2022, Van Dalen has become the first CNMT athlete ranked under the direction of head coach Jim Frederick. The Netherlands native finished his first spring in Mossy Creek with a record of 12-9 overall and 8-4 in SAC play, all coming at the number one position.
Meanwhile, Van Dalen has been ranked as one of the ITA's top 50 singles players in DII men's tennis, rising as high as number 30.
Joining Van Dalen on the 2022 All-SAC first team singles squad is Queens (N.C.)'s Edoardo Bottino, who is also the SAC Player of the Year; Wingate's Florian Walcher, the 2022 SAC Freshman of the Year; Newberry's Mateo Bivol, Lenoir-Rhyne's Rhodri Atkinson, and Queens (N.C.)'s Edoardo Cecere.
Following in the footsteps of his fellow Eagles teammate, freshman Gjorgji Jankulovski would end the 2022 regular season with the most SAC wins on the team with his mark of 11-1 against conference foes. As the Macedonia native played only one match at the number three flight, the remaining 20 matches for the Macedonia native came from the number four flight, where Jankulovski finished 16-4 overall and on a four-match win streak to end the spring.
His win streak includes wins over nationally ranked Queens and Anderson as well as SAC foes in Newberry and Catawba. The only SAC blemish for the freshman came on April 6, when he fell to Tusculum as part of a heartbreaking 4-3 loss for C-N.
Finally, for the second straight season, it is junior Marc Janse claiming a spot amongst the South Atlantic Conference best. A year after gathering first team honors with a perfect spring, the Netherlands came back to Mossy Creek on a mission. In 2022, Janse finished with a new program record for the last 15 years for single season wins as he amassed 17 wins with only four losses to his name.
Meanwhile, in SAC play, it would only be two losses for the junior as he was one of C-N's athletes to finish with double-digit wins, including wins over nationally ranked programs in Lincoln Memorial, Wingate, Tusculum, and Anderson.
Joining Janse and Jankulovski as second-team singles honorees for the SAC are Tusculum's Frank Bonacia, Juan Sengariz of Anderson, Lenoir-Rhyne's Lewis Scott, and Anderson's Adam Kush.
The Eagles also place the pairing of Marc Janse and Lars Hordijk with second team laurels. This is the first doubles all-conference honors for CNMT since the end of the 2016-17 when Joao Pedro Oliveira and Gabriel Dabdab were tabbed with first team honors. In 2022, the duo of Janse/Hordijk were able to tie the old CNMT program record of 13 single season wins as they went 13-8 overall, including going 8-3 from the number two doubles flight.
Joining the duo as second-team doubles honorees are Coker's Thibault Decaluwe and Samuel Winter as well as Wingate's Hugo Nossler and Florian Walcher.
The quartet of C-NMT All-SAC honorees and the rest of the Carson-Newman men's tennis program will begin their 2022 SAC Tournament on Thursday against Wingate at 9 a.m. All action will take place from the Palmetto Tennis Center in Sumter, S.C.
Be sure to keep up to date on all things Carson-Newman men's tennis at cneagles.com and via all social media accounts.
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