JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - The Eagles defeated Union (Ky.) in its home opener to stay undefeated to open the season through two matches.
The win kicked off the home schedule for Carson-Newman (2-0) in a match that eerily matched the women's match against the Union (Ky.) (1-3). In both the men's and women's matches the singles were an even split with Union at 3-3, while C-N swept all three matches of the doubles point.
"We started off incredibly strong. Doubles was a huge focus for us after Young Harris and the work paid off," Carson-Newman men's tennis head coach Nathan Gangelhoff said. "We didn't play our best in singles but it was enough to get a win against a very tough team. Our senior Matthew (Saunders) clinched it for us. We weren't able to dominate in the way I know we can. Back to work."
In singles, Carson-Newman was leading 3-2 needing either one of the No. 5 or No. 6 singles matches to go its way to clinch the victory. Matthew Saunders (Ballyclare, NI, United Kingdom) dominated his opponent in the No. 5 slot only allowing the Bulldog competitor to win four games across the two-set sweep.
SINGLES RESULTS
No. 1: Marnix Van Dalen (C-N) def. Artsiom Sinitsyn (UNION) 7-5, 6-4
No. 2: Luke Geduldt (UNION) def. Gjorgji Jankulovski (C-N) 6-2, 6-4
No. 3: Victor Bourguignon (UNION) def. Paul Gayk (C-N) 4-6, 6-4, 10-7
No. 4: Louis Keenan (C-N) def. Henning Ebersohn (UNION) 6-4, 6-2
No. 5: Matthew Saunders (C-N) def. Yassine Azehaf (UNION) 6-3, 6-1
No. 6: Daniel Caballeros (UNION) def. Leonard Baecker (C-N) 6-4, 7-5
After being a struggle against Young Harris in the opener, the Eagles dominated the doubles point winning 17 out of 23 games in doubles against the Bulldogs.
DOUBLES RESULTS
No. 1: Marnix Van Dalen/Paul Gayk (C-N) def. Artsiom Sinitsyn/Henning Ebersohn (UNION) 6-3
No. 2: Gjorgji Jankulovski/Louis Keenan (C-N) def. Luke Geduldt/Victor Bourguignon (UNION) 6-2
No. 3: Matthew Saunders/Leonard Baecker (C-N) def. Enzo Sebastien/Daniel Caballeros (UNION) 5-1
With the win, Carson-Newman improves to 2-0 heading into a Tuesday non-conference match with Lee in Cleveland, Tenn.
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