Eagles take to the road against #13 Wingate
Carson-Newman (5-7, 3-3 SAC) is back in action on Saturday as they face-off with the #13 Wingate Bulldogs.
WINGATE, N.C. – Carson-Newman (5-7, 3-3 SAC) is back in action on Saturday as they face-off with the #13 Wingate Bulldogs. The Eagles will hope to get back above .500 in SAC play after splitting two home matches last weekend from the Buddy Catlett Tennis Complex.
"This is possibly the toughest game of the season, but we will try and make it as hard as possible for them," grad student Gabriel Dabdab said. "Wingate has been on top of the conference for the last four years and only lost one conference match during this period."
Last weekend, Carson-Newman were defeated by Lenoir-Rhyne 5-2 before the Eagles rebounded and took home a 6-1 victory over the Newberry Wolves. Sophomore Marc Janse (Zeewolde, Netherlands) was a big factor for the Eagles both days. On Saturday, he kept his SAC singles record unblemished as he saw victory 4-6, 7-6, 6-3. Janse was joined on the winning side of things by grad student Gabriel Dabdab (Rio de Janerio, Brazil) who also saw a three-set thriller as he came away with the win by scores of 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Sunday was an all-out team effort as the Eagles only saw one loss on the entire day and were victorious 6-1. Every single Eagle saw victory in singles, except Dabdab, who was pretty content with the team taking victory despite his fall. Janse continued the hot streak as he won 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 at number two singles to move to 6-0 against SAC opponents this year. Other than Janse, sophomore Joshua Ott (Knoxville, Tenn.) made his name known as he moved to .500 in SAC singles play after taking home a 6-2, 6-2 result from number six singles.
So far this season, sophomore Marc Janse (Zeewolde, Netherlands) continues to lead the way for C-N in singles as he sits at 8-4 through 12 matches. Janse is also the lone Eagle to still hold an undefeated record in SAC play this year as he has a 6-0 record against SAC opponents. Right behind Janse is grad student and team capitan, Gabriel Dabdab (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), who has collected a 7-5 singles record.
Janse is also the leader for C-N in doubles action as he and junior Rintaro Oka (Narita, Japan) have been together for four matches and have only one blemish to their name, sitting at 3-1. Dabdab has been a consistent presence at number one doubles alongside sophomore Ids Waterbolk (Bennekom, Netherlands) who has helped the pair gain four victories, including two against SAC opponents.
As for the Bulldogs, they are currently the number 13 team in Division II, sitting at 7-1 and 6-0 in the SAC. The lone Bulldogs loss came back on March 13th to the Columbus State Cougars as Wingate was swept 7-0. Since the loss, Wingate has rattled off three straight SAC victories over Newberry (6-1), UVA Wise (7-0), and Lenoir-Rhyne (5-2).
In the series history between the two programs, Wingate has not given up a match result in the last 11 years as they hold a 11-0 record over C-N since 2010. The latest result was a 6-1 Bulldog triumph in Jefferson City on March 4, 2020. When the Eagles travel to the Wingate Tennis Complex, their closest match result came in 2017 as they were handed a 7-2 loss. The Eagles have also been shut out and swept three out of their last five trips since 2010.
"Our guys won't give it to them for free and we will fight for every point and every result from the beginning all the way to the last point," Dabdab said.
First serve is set for 2:00 p.m. on Saturday from the Wingate Tennis Complex. Be sure to keep up with all things Carson-Newman men's tennis at cneagles.com and via all social media accounts.
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