Two-match winning streak, SAC home opener spoiled by 'Splitters
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – An early 3-0 deficit proved to be too much for the Eagles as Carson-Newman fell in its first South Atlantic Conference match of the season 8-1 against Lincoln Memorial on Thursday afternoon at the Buddy Catlett Tennis Complex.
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – An early 3-0 deficit proved to be too much for the Eagles as Carson-Newman fell in its first South Atlantic Conference match of the season 8-1 against Lincoln Memorial on Thursday afternoon at the Buddy Catlett Tennis Complex.
The defeat brings the Eagles (2-5, 0-1 SAC) two-match winning streak to an end. They have now lost nine-consecutive matches to LMU.
The Railsplitters (6-3, 2-0 SAC) jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead with a sweep of doubles action.
The No. 1 match saw LMU take its steepest doubles win as Rodolfo Schwarz (Brazil) and Kevin Mendes (Chattanooga, Tenn.) fell to Mortiz Hoerner and Jake Tuchmann, 8-2.
The match marked Mendes' first return to the court since Feb. 20 when he sustained an injury in singles play against Tennessee Wesleyan.
At the third-spot, Marc Batel (Germany) and Taylor Barie fell to Xavier Marti and Constantin Ernstberger 8-5 to push the LMU lead to 2-0.
The second-seeded duo of Gabriel Dabdab (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and Jesus Bacete-Sanz (Madrid, Spain) were the last C-N doubles team on the courts in a battle against David Segarra and Joshua Peress. The LMU tandem was too much for Dabdab and Bacete-Sanz to handle as the 'Splitters took the third doubles win, 8-5, to garner the sweep in the early portion.
Schwarz was the first Eagle to fall in the second half of the afternoon, losing straight sets to Ernstberger at the second-seeded position, 6-4 and 7-6.
In the No. 3 matchup, Bantel lost back-to-back 7-6 sets to Segarra to push the LMU lead to 5-0, clinching the Railsplitter victory.
Both Schwarz and Bantel had two-match winning streaks end on Thursday.
The top-seeded face-off between Dabdab and Peress turned into a three-set thriller. Peress garnered a 6-4 win in the first set but a relentless Dabdab surged back in the second with a commanding 6-4 victory. The third set fell back in favor of LMU as Peress took a 6-2 win to push the 'Splitter advantage further.
The sixth-spot saw a change in pace as Joseph Stiles (New Oxford, PA) snagged an 8-2 victory over Carlos Zunino for his second-consecutive victory of the season. The win was the only one the Eagles could garner on the day, still trailing 6-1 but avoiding the shutout.
In No. 4 singles play, Barie opened with a 6-4 first set victory that was closely followed by a mirrored victory for Hoerner to send the two into a tiebreaker. In the third set, it was all LMU as Hoerner took a 10-5 win.
Bacete-Sanz fell to Iker Tomas Moure in the final match of the day at the No. 5 spot, 8-5.
The Eagles will take to the road on Friday for a showdown with Newberry for its second of three days of SAC action. That match will begin at 1:30 p.m. at the Oakland Tennis Center.
