Eagles shine in Enchanted Valley Showdown
YOUNG HARRIS, Ga. – Looking to continue their success from day one, Carson-Newman men’s tennis wrapped up time in the Enchanted Valley Showdown from Young Harris, Georgia on Sunday
YOUNG HARRIS, Ga. – Looking to continue their success from day one, Carson-Newman men's tennis wrapped up time in the Enchanted Valley Showdown from Young Harris, Georgia on Sunday. After compiling a 10-2 record in day one action, the Eagles saw a 14-1 record over the course of day two doubles and singles matches.
To start their Sunday action, the Eagles went up against Montevallo in doubles as they were in competition at 10 a.m. Sunday morning.
"The boys had an amazing weekend, going 24-3 overall with a mark of 9-0 in doubles and 15-3 in singles," graduate assistant Gabriel Dabdab said. "The scary thing is that it could have been even better."
The pair of junior Marc Janse (Zeewolde, Netherlands) and sophomore Lars Hordijk (Dordrecht, South Holland) were in number one doubles for the Eagles. After winning both their doubles matches on Saturday, the duo came out strong once more to win 6-3 over the Falcons.
In number two doubles, junior Ids Waterbolk (Bennekom, The Netherlands) and freshman Gjorgji Jankulovski (Macedonia) would also continue their Saturday success into Sunday morning action. The pairing of Waterbolk and Jankulovski would also win 6-3 and set themselves up for singles action to follow.
Finally, number three doubles would be freshman Richard Dulganov (Hungary) and senior Rintaro Oka (Narita, Japan) who finished the doubles portion for C-N with a 6-1 victory.
The Eagles would not see the last of the Falcons as they went up against each other in singles competition as well.
All six singles matches went in C-N's favor. Number one singles would be junior Marc Janse (Zeewolde, Netherlands) winning his match 6-3, 6-2. Following suit, freshman Marnix Van Dalen won with almost exactly the same scores, as he defeated his Falcons opponent 6-2, 6-3.
Number three singles would allow fellow freshman Gjorgji Jankulovski to continue his fall season as an Eagle with a thrilling 6-3, 4-6, 10-8 three-set victory over Montevallo. That would be the closest singles match between C-N and Montevallo as the action from number four through six singles would all end in two sets.
Starting off, number four singles was Rintaro Oka's time to shine as he won 6-0, 7-6. The ever-competitive Ids Waterbolk wanted to keep his hot weekend alive, as he did so with a 6-4, 6-0 victory in number five singles. Finally, freshman Richard Dulganov won 6-3, 6-0 to win his second singles match of the weekend.
To end their time in the Peach State, Carson-Newman went head-to-head with the hometown Mountain Lions in singles action. The Eagles would once again seemingly dominate action, winning five out of six singles matches.
Jankulovski continued his time in Georgia as number two singles for C-N men's tennis. The freshman ended his time with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over his opponent from Young Harris. Rintaro Oka moved up to play number three singles for the final matches, winning 6-4, 6-4 and ending his time in the Peach State on a positive note.
The winning continued for Ids Waterbolk, as he would win all six matches on the weekend, wrapping up his time with a 7-6, 6-2 victory at number four singles. Moving up a slot, freshman Richard Dulganov was slotted as number five singles against Young Harris. As he has done consistently this fall, Dulganov won in singles action by a result of 6-2, 6-2 victory. The final Eagle to claim victory over Young Harris would be sophomore Lars Hordijk. Despite not playing against Montevallo, Hordijk returned to the courts against Young Harris and won 6-3, 6-3.
The lone singles loss between C-N and Young Harris for the Eagles came in number one singles as Marc Janse would fight for every point, but would see a loss in a three-set battle. After winning the first set 6-1, Janse would drop the second set 4-6 as a decisive third set would be needed. In that third set, Janse and his Mountain Lion opponent continued going back-and-forth but Janse would fall 7-10 and suffer a loss.
Over the two-day event, the Eagles finish with a 9-0 record in doubles and 15-3 record in singles as they finish 24-3 in all matches from the Bob & Gayle Nichols Tennis Complex.
"Sky is the limit for them and if they believe in each other, I don't see many teams that are able to stop them," Dabdab said.
The Eagles now turn their attention to prepare for the Eagle Invitational from Knoxville, Tenn on October 22 and 23.
Be sure to keep up with the C-N men's tennis team all season long across Carson-Newman's social media platforms and on cneagles.com
