Eagles see action against Governors Saturday
To wrap up three straight weekend trips at the Knoxville Racquet Club, Carson-Newman men's tennis (1-2, 0-0 SAC) get ready for a Saturday matinee versus Division I foe Austin Peay (0-3. 0-0 OVC).
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – To wrap up three straight weekend trips at the Knoxville Racquet Club, Carson-Newman men's tennis (1-2, 0-0 SAC) get ready for a Saturday matinee versus Division I foe Austin Peay (0-3. 0-0 OVC).
It is the one of two DI opponents for the Eagles on the spring dual-match schedule (exhibition v. Belmont on March 13) and presents an opportunity for head coach Jim Frederick and his team to see where they stack up early in the spring 2021 season.
"We played well last weekend against both Belmont Abbey and Tennessee Wesleyan," head coach Jim Frederick said. "The boys improved their performance against Tennessee Wesleyan after seeing them earlier in the week. As for Belmont Abbey, it was dominant once singles action and that's why we came away with a win."
C-N enters Saturday at 1-2 after a split weekend this past Saturday in Knoxville. The Eagles were able to beat the Belmont Abbey Crusaders 6-1 before falling to Tennessee Wesleyan for the second time in a week by a score of 5-2. Entering Saturday, the Governors hold an 0-3 record on the campaign, with their most recent loss coming by a score of 4-3 to IUPUI.
Singles play has seen the Eagles sit at .500 so far this season, with Dutch sophomore Ids Waterbolk (Bennekom, Netherlands) sitting at 2-1 alongside grad student and team leader Gabriel Dabdab (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and junior Rintaro Oka (Narita, Japan) to lead the Eagles in all three matches.
The most crucial aspect for Carson-Newman will be winning the elusive doubles point to start the match. So far this season, all three matches have gone the way of Eagles opponents, but with strong singles play, C-N has stormed back to win at least one of those matches.
In the series history Austin Peay leads 2-0, respectively. The Governors built on the series lead with a close 4-3 win on February 14, 2020.
Opening serve from the Knoxville Racquet Club is set for 2:00 p.m. against the Governors.
Be sure to check CNEagles.com for continued coverage of play this weekend.
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