Eagles stay competitive with #13 Nighthawks
The Carson-Newman men’s tennis team gave #13 North Georgia a run for their money on Wednesday afternoon, falling 7-2.
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JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The Carson-Newman men's tennis team gave #13 North Georgia a run for their money on Wednesday afternoon, falling 7-2.
"I was really proud with what I saw today," Carson-Newman assistant coach Austin Mackay said. "We came out knowing that they were ranked No. 13 in the nation and we gave them a scare. We were in the match until No.5 singles, but we had a chance to beat one of the top teams in the nation."
Carson-Newman (7-9, 5-5) got off to a bit of a slow start in match play today, losing the first two doubles matches to North Georgia (17-2, 7-2). The No. 1 doubles tandem of Stefano Daza (Venezuela) and Rodolfo Schwarz (Brazil) faced off against one of the region's best in Niklas Zielen and Alexander Reinauer.
Daza and Schwarz fell fast and quickly to their counterparts, 8-1. The duo are now 3-10 on the season in doubles play and 2-10 at No. 1 doubles.
The No.2 doubles team of Gabriel Dabdab (Brazil) and Joao Pedro Oliveira (Brazil) had an off-day today falling 8-3. The duo are 11-6 on the season and are 9-4 at No.2 doubles.
The final tandem of Jesus Bacete-Sanz (Spain) and Keving Mendes (Chattanooga, Tenn.) came through with the lone victory in doubles play for the Eagles. The duo picked up a 9-8 victory over Mark Laishley and Jared Bones.
"They showed up today," Mackay said. "They played a team that was really solid and they just did the right things at the net and did the simple things really well."
The Eagles attempted the little momentum they had into singles play. Oliveira got things started at the No.1 singles position. The native of Brazil played a hard fought first set, but came up short with a 7-5 loss. Zielen made quick work of Oliveira in the second set winning 6-4. Oliveira is now 11-7 on the year and is 10-6 at the top singles position.
Rodolfo Schwarz was not able to get any offense rolling today on the courts as he lost in straight sets 6-2, 6-0. The junior is now 3-10 on the year and is 2-7 at the No. 2 singles position.
Marc Bantel (Germany) has started click on the court winning three consecutive matches. The junior defeated Andre Canion 1-6, 6-4, 6-2, to improve to 6-11 on the season. Bantel was the only singles player to pick up a victory on the afternoon.
"Today he took a step-forward and was very positive and confident today on the court," Mackay said.
Daza stepped onto the court at No. 4 singles and knew that his match was a must win if the Eagles had any chance of pulling off the upset. The Eagles trailed 4-2 heading into the fourth singles match. Daza played arguably the best match of the day in a 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 loss to Laishley.
"That's probably one of the best matches I've seen from him in the four seasons that he has been here." Mackay said, "It was just a great match from him today."
Dabdab and Mendes closed the match out for the Eagles at the No. 5 and No. 6 singles positions. Dabdab lost in straight 6-4, 6-2 at the No. 5 singles position, while Mendes saw his five-match winning streak come to a close on Wednesday afternoon.
The Eagles will play their regular season game on Friday afternoon at home against Queens. The match is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.
