Eagles look to regain winning ways Wednesday
Carson-Newman (4-6, 2-1 SAC) will hope for some St. Patrick’s luck in order to get back into the win column for the first time in three matches.
HARROGATE, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (4-6, 2-1 SAC) will hope for some St. Patrick's luck in order to get back into the win column for the first time in three matches. The Eagles will have a short drive as they will head to Harrogate, Tenn. for a matchup with Lincoln Memorial (2-8, 1-4 SAC) on Wednesday.
This past week, Carson-Newman saw a home opening defeat before getting to see action versus a DI opponent on the weekend. The Eagles finally got to play from the Buddy Catlett Tennis Complex this last Tuesday as the Anderson Trojans paid Mossy Creek a visit. The matchup started strongly in favor of the Trojans who took the 1-0 lead after claiming the doubles point. However, C-N stormed back to make the match close until the end, thanks in part to the play of grad student Gabriel Dabdab (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). However, the Eagles could not see a complete victory as sophomore Ids Waterbolk (Bennekom, Netherlands) had to go to three sets where Anderson ran away with the final and deciding point.
Carson-Newman is now 2-1 in SAC play, matching the best conference mark through three games since the 2016-17 season when C-N saw victories over Lenoir-Rhyne and Coker but were stopped by Anderson (S.C.) to start off conference.
Saturday was another chance for C-N to get to see higher level opposition as the team traveled to Nashville for an exhibition with Belmont. The match did not even begin going the way of the Eagles as Belmont bolted out to a commanding 1-0 lead after doubles and claiming three set singles match before the match was deemed finished. The Eagles, however, are taking this opportunity to better themselves for the high-level of play in the South Atlantic Conference.
"It may have said exhibition on the schedule, but our players treat every match the same," head coach Jim Frederick said. "Losing like we did to Anderson was not ideal but it helps our boys to get better and know what to improve upon as we continue SAC play."
When action begins on Wednesday, it marks the first time the two East Tennessee programs have tussled since March of 2020. This was one of the last matches both programs completed prior to the season being cut short by COVID. LMU were the 4-3 victors last year and are now leading the overall series by an imposing 11-0-0 margin. The closest C-N has gotten to victory beyond last year was in March of 2017 when LMU barely squeaked out a 5-4 loss. When traveling to Harrogate, the Railsplitters have protected home court by a 5-0 record and only allowing C-N to gain three match points once.
Lincoln Memorial is 2-8 so far this season and will come into Wednesday after taking a 6-1 victory over Mars Hill to give them their only SAC win so far. The only other LMU win came back on Feb. 12 when the Railsplitters handed the Mountain Lions of Young Harris a 5-2 defeat in Harrogate.
Opening serve from the Indoor Tennis Facility is set for 3:30 p.m. against the Railsplitters. Be sure to keep up with all things Carson-Newman men's tennis at cneagles.com and on social media.
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