HARROGATE, Tenn., - The Carson-Newman men's tennis team won five out of seven singles matches and two out of four in their doubles matches during Friday's expedited matches.
"The guys took two out of three of their doubles matches today, with one of the four being more of an exhibition-type of a match," said coach David Blank, "We're seeing a lot of good things out of this year's group."
Gjorgji Jankulovski and Marc Janse got the ball rolling in the right direction with a 6-3 dub against the Lincoln Memorial Railsplitters. Marnix Van Dalen and Ids Waterbolk dropped their match in the number two position with a score of 6-3. The Eagles bounced back to victory in doubles play with a 6-4 win in the number three spot achieved by Lars Hordijk and Rintaro Oka. Joshua Ott and Javier Crespo fell 6-4 in their exhibition match.
"We've seen a lot of improvement in this group of guys," coach Blank said. "We just need to work a little bit more in practice to fix up a few things."
The Eagles faired well in singles play. They won five out of seven matches, with one of their losses being a hidden dual that does not count towards the final record of the day.
Marc Janse lost the only relevant singles match of the day, falling in back-to-back sets of 6-3 and 6-4. The Eagles were able to recapture momentum from the number two spot when Marnix Van Dalen won in sets of 6-2 and 6-0. Gjorgji Jankulovski followed suit with a 6-4 and 6-3 victory.
Rintaro Oka won his first set 6-2 but fell in the second set 1-6. The Eagle then found himself in a 1-1 standstill against his opposition. Oka scored nine straight points to win the overtime set with a score of 10-1.
Ids Waterbolk caught a victory in the number five position in his typical fashion. He dominated the first set 6-1 but then fell 6-3 in his second set. Waterbolk then found himself down 9-7 with the game on the line. He could then hold off his opponent to even the score 9-9. Waterbolk completed the comeback, winning the set 11-9.
Newcomer Javier Crespo looked sharp for the Eagles. He dropped his first set 6-3 but came back to win the second set 6-2. Crespo completed the rally with a 10-4 victory.
Joshua Ott fell in today's exhibition match against a strong Lincoln Memorial opponent in sets of 0-6 and 1-6. Despite the score, coach Blank had positive thoughts on how Ott performed.
"Josh and Marc both played very tough opponents today. Josh played a guy who could frequently play at the top of Lincoln Memorial's lineup. Overall, I'm satisfied with how the singles played today," coach Blank said.
The Eagles will take a day off to rest during Saturday's expected showers and return to Harrogate, Tenn., on Sunday.
