HARROGATE, Tenn. - Carson-Newman's men's tennis team wins their opening contest against Belmont Abbey on Saturday, February 4th.
C-N 6, Belmont Abbey 1
The Eagles move to 2-0 all-time against the Crusaders. Their last matchup came on March 21st, 2021 when the Eagles won 6-1 at the Knoxville Racquet Club.
Doubles:
Carson-Newman began the day with doubles action against the Crusaders. Coach Felipe Charry placed Ids Waterbolk and Marnix Van Dalen in the number one spot. The Eagles matched against Belmont Abbey's Xaveam Van Wijk and Alex Turner. Waterbolk and Van Dalen were never able to gain traction and lost the opening match of the season 6-2.
Rintaro Oka and Marc Janse lined up in the two spot for the Eagles. The Crusaders placed Charlie Fremaux and Christian Winstead against the Eagles pair. The Eagles cruised to a 6-3 victory.
Javier Crespo Sanchez and Gjorgji Jankulovski were placed in the three spot for the Eagles. The pair took down Nicholas Cary and Jai Rowe 7/6 in a tie-breaking match, giving the Eagles the victory in the doubles portion of the matchup.
Singles:
Janse lined up against Van Wijk in the number one spot. The Eagles last saw Van Wijk at the ITA Regionals last fall when he eliminated Van Dalen from the tournament with a 6-4, 6-1 outing. Janse won the first set 6-3 but dropped the second set 7-6. Janse avenged Van Dalen's ITA loss with a 10-1 tie-breaking set victory.
Van Dalen matched up against Fremaux in his singles match against the Crusaders. The Eagle breezed by Fremaux in sets of 6-3 and 6-4.
Jankulovski faced off against Turner in the three spot for the Eagles. Jankulovski won the first set 6-2 and the second set 6-3. The sophomore has now won his first match of the season in both years as an Eagle.
Oka was slotted into the four spot for the Eagles. Oka lost the first set 7-5 against Belmont Abbey's Cary. Oka bounced back in the second set to win 6-1, but the Eagle could not find his rhythm in the third set, losing 10-4.
Sanchez faced off against Winstead in the five spot. The Eagle won the first set 6-3 but dropped the second set 6-2. Sanchez and Winstead grinded out the longest set of the day, but it was Sanchez who came out on top with an 11-9 victory score.
Waterbolk found himself in a hole early against Rowe when he lost the first set 6-3. Waterbolk came back in the second set 6-3 and drove in the win with a third set 10-2 victory.
The Eagles have won their first game of the spring season two years in a row for the first time since 2011-12.
Carson-Newman will return to action tomorrow, February 5th, with a trip to North Georgia. The Eagles are 0-11 all-time against the Nighthawks.
To stay updated on Carson-Newman's men's tennis team, visit CNEagles.com, or follow Carson-Newman Athletics on social media.
