Eagles fall to Bulldogs in SAC quarterfinals
SUMTER, S.C.- 33rd- ranked Carson-Newman men’s tennis was back in action for the second straight season for the SAC Quarterfinals.
SUMTER, S.C.- 33rd- ranked Carson-Newman men's tennis was back in action for their second straight appearance in the SAC Quarterfinals. The Eagles (14-8, 8-4 SAC) were slotted as the sixth seed and saw a first-round matchup against the number three seed Wingate Bulldogs on their plate.
With Thursday's result, the Bulldogs handled business, avenging their regular-season defeat, as they walked away 4-0 victors and will play in the 2022 SAC Men's Tennis Semifinals tomorrow afternoon.
With their 14 wins, C-N completes the best regular season and postseason run (so far) in the last 15 seasons as they were able to hold a national ranking for six consecutive weeks, including an individual ranking for the first time under head coach Jim Frederick.
"This is not the way we wanted the season to end. Yes, we fought hard in singles for the most part but we didn't play our best and chose a horrible time to play this way," Lars Hordijk said. "I wanted this season to end on a higher note, but I'm proud of the way this team reacted during tough times and I know we will be back stronger next season."
On the doubles side of competition Thursday, Wingate looked in firm control from the start as they were nearly untouchable at the number one flight, winning 6-1 over C-N's Marc Janse and Lars Hordijk.
Then, as the number two flight including the Orange and Blue's Ids Waterbolk and Gjorgji Jankulovski was knotted at 5-5, their match would remain unfinished, thanks to the result from the number three doubles flight.
In number three doubles, Rintaro Oka and Marnix Van Dalen would battle early, but would see a 6-3 result fall to their Bulldogs foe as it would allow Wingate to go ahead 1-0.
Moving into singles play behind, C-N knew it had an uphill battle to climb. Only three singles matches were needed for completion, as Wingate won at the number one, three, and four flights to secure their spot in the SAC semifinals.
Number one singles saw a prime matchup of two of the SAC's premier freshman, in C-N's Marnix Van Dalen and Wingate's Florian Walcher. Walcher, the SAC Freshman of the Year, looked the part as he won the first set 6-1. Van Dalen would respond at times in the second set, as he looked to rebound and force a decisive third.
However, Walcher came back stronger and took set two, 6-3, to move the Bulldogs one step closer to Friday.
The second singles match to conclude with C-N's Gjorgji Jankulovski and WU's Gabriel Constantino. It was nearly one-sided for Wingate as Constantino swept the first set 6-1. Then, in the second set, Wingate looked firmly in control again as they handled their own, winning 6-3 and claiming the result.
Finally, in number three singles, C-N's senior Rintaro Oka was looking to end his C-N career on a high note, going up against WU's Jonas Grasmueck. After taking the first set 6-0, Grasmueck would secure the win with a 6-3 decision in the second set.
The remainder of the singles action for number two, five, and six singles saw no final result decided. After falling behind and losing the first set, both Marc Janse and Ids Waterbolk would fight back to make their matches go to three sets. Then, in number six singles, Lars Hordijk was in the second set of his match as he would try to make it go three sets as well. However, no Eagles or Bulldogs match would finish as the match was decided prior to an official finish.
The Eagles now await their fate as the 2022 NCAA Southeast Regionals come up, as the Orange and Blue currently sit within the top eight of the region. The official decision will be announced May 3.
Keep up with all things Carson-Newman men's tennis via cneagles.com and on all social media outlets.
