No. 30 C-N Squares Off with Revenge-Minded No. 38 Lenoir-Rhyne in Opening Round of SAC Tournament
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Following a stellar regular season under first-year head coach Jon Parker, No. 30 Carson-Newman (12-5, 10-2 SAC) kicks off postseason play against No. 38 Lenoir-Rhyne (10-6, 7-5 SAC) at the Palmetto Tennis Center in Sumter, South Carolina, on Tuesday at 9 AM.
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Following a stellar regular season under first-year head coach Jon Parker, No. 30 Carson-Newman (12-5, 10-2 SAC) kicks off postseason play against No. 38 Lenoir-Rhyne (10-6, 7-5 SAC) at the Palmetto Tennis Center in Sumter, South Carolina, on Tuesday at 9 AM.
The Eagles come into the conference tournament unbeaten in April, having taken care of business in a loaded slate last week. The Eagles started the week ranked No. 41, and the 12-spot climb was well-deserved following a dominant week.
C-N started the week with a historic win, defeating No. 34 Tusculum for the first time since the SAC Tournament in 2006 and earning its first regular-season win over TU since 2000. The Eagles then took down No. 41 Lincoln Memorial, earning their second-ranked win of the week. C-N then cruised to two sweeps, blanking Newberry on Senior Day before closing the regular season with a 7-0 win at Mars Hill, securing the 3-seed in the SAC.
The Eagles will face a talented Lenoir-Rhyne squad, which will not be an easy opponent for C-N despite dropping its last three matches. The Bears boast an all-conference singles selection in Vadym Rogynski, who earned second-team honors, and the duo of Rogynski and Rufus Plane, who were named to the all-conference third team in doubles. L-R comes into the tournament as the 6-seed.
Rogynski, primarily playing No. 3 singles, notched a 13-3 record with a 10-2 conference mark. Rogynski was excellent down the stretch, going 8-2 in his last ten matches. On the doubles court, Rogynski and Plane were tough at No. 1, going 11-5 and 8-4 in conference play. The matchup between the Bears' top pairing and the Eagles' Marnix Van Dalen and Lars Hordijk will feature two top duos in the SAC.
In the regular season matchup between the two teams, Hordijk and Van Dalen outdueled Rogynski and Plane in the No. 1 doubles spot, but Rogynski bounced back with a straight-set win over C-N's Gjorgji Jankulovski in No. 3 singles. However, the Eagles used wins in four of the six singles matches to win 5-2.
On Tuesday, it'll be a battle featuring two ranked teams. Lenoir-Rhyne looks to bounce back from its loss earlier in the year, while C-N will try to sweep the season series with the Bears and advance to the semifinals.
In the situation that C-N wins, it will see either 7-seed Limestone or the 2-seed No. 31 Catawba.
C-N and Lenoir-Rhyne will start off conference tournament play tomorrow at 9 AM in Sumter, South Carolina.
