C-N Searches for Elusive First Win Against North Georgia in Spring Opener
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The Carson-Newman men’s tennis team takes the court for the first time in 2024, searching for its first-ever win over the North Georgia Nighthawks.
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The Carson-Newman men's tennis team takes the court for the first time in 2024, searching for its first-ever win over the North Georgia Nighthawks.
The Eagles and the Nighthawks have met 13 times, most recently on February 5th, 2023, in Dahlonega, Georgia. The Nighthawks handled the Eagles 6-1 in the early season matchup a year ago.
North Georgia is coming off a 9-9 record, led by senior Joaquin Benoit, who earned many honors in 2023, including First-Team All-Peach Belt in singles and doubles. Benoit started the season ranked No. 5 nationally. Benoit posted a 13-4 singles record in the 2023 season with two nationally-ranked wins.
A year ago, Benoit and the Eagles' Second-Team All-SAC selection squared off, and Van Dalen took the nationally ranked Benoit to three sets before eventually dropping the match.
First-Team All-SAC singles selection Marc Janse posted a 16-5 record a season ago and a 4-2 record in the fall. Over his career at Carson-Newman, Janse has tallied a 61-26 mark, putting him among the top returning singles players in the SAC.
The Eagles also return All-SAC Second-Team singles and doubles selection Marnix Van Dalen, who, in the matchup with the Nighthawks in the 2023 season, took the talented Benoit to three sets before dropping the highly competitive match. The return of Second-Team All-SAC selection Gjorgii Jankulovski also poses a significant challenge to the Nighthawks.
Benoit headlines the Nighthawks again on the doubles side, joined by teammate Cole Brainard. The duo posted a 15-2 record last season, going 3-0 against nationally-ranked competition.
The Nighthawks' pairing will likely see the Eagles' Second-Team All-SAC duo in Marnix Van Dalen and Lars Hordijk. The two boast an impressive 12-3 record in 2023, winning seven of their last ten contests to round out the prior season.
The matchup between the Eagles and the Nighthawks poses highly-touted matchups in both singles and doubles, and C-N will begin the battle for its first win over Nort Georgia at 1:30 pm on February 7th in Mossy Creek.
