Baecker, Kolevski, and Keenan labeled players to watch for the spring season
The two returners and transfer student are slated to make a major impact on the Eagles, who are projected fourth in the conference preseason poll.
VIDEO: Leo Baecker talks Player to Watch Selection
ROCK HILL, S.C. – The two returners and transfer student are slated to make a major impact on the Eagles, who are projected fourth in the conference preseason poll.
Carson-Newman men's tennis will be missing the presence of two all-conference selections who have departed the program, but look forward to a new-look, young team. Anticipating this, Nate Gangelhoff has appointed Leonard Baecker as a captain this year. Not only is the sophomore one of the most experienced players on the squad, but becomes one of the most tenured members of the team in an Eagles uniform.
"We got a couple new guys, also two transfers. So I think that's also good because they already know how everything works," said Baeker. "I think we all got along pretty good and I'm just excited for them, how they're going to handle the whole season."
Baeker played largely in the four, five, and six slots in the singles lineup last season and was 8-11 overall, but was 5-5 in his SAC matches. The German finished the season with two wins. Baecker knows that with now a full year under his belt, he will have to step into a bigger role.
"I'm going to play a little bit higher in the lineup, so it's going to be a little bit harder for me. But I think I'm ready for that and I'm just excited. And my goal is to do better last year because I felt like I had some matches where I could have won," Baeker said. "Now I'm more experienced and I know how everything works, so I'm very excited for that."
Darko Kolevski was also certainly an exciting offseason addition to the Eagles squad. The sophomore transfer from Eastern Kentucky showed extreme promise in the fall. At ITA's Kolevski played in the Flight A doubles with Louis Keenan. While they would ultimately drop the match, it was incredibly competitive. The pair held the second-ranked doubles pair in the region from Lander to an 8-5 score. At EKU, the North Macedonian played in four matches.
Louis Keenan was the final selection to the watchlist. Keenan is in a similar spot to Baecker as one of the few returners to the Eagles lineup, but fits the bill well as a young gun. Keenan played 11 singles matches total last season at the two, three, and four slots in the lineup and was 5-6 across them. As a freshman, he was 3-3 in SAC singles matches.
Keenan is also one of the strongest doubles players on the team. Keenan played nearly all of last season with Gjorgji Jankulovski and went 11-5 across those matches, including a 9-5 record in the first doubles spot. Keenan was also a part of the doubles pair with Kolevski at the Fall ITA's that challenged Lander's ranked doubles pair.
The three sophomores will headline head coach Nate Gangelhoff's team this season, who kicks off Spring action on February 5th against Sewanee in an exhibition. For updates, follow @CN_Eagles on X and Instagram, or Carson-Newman Athletics on Facebook. Full coverage is also available at cneagles.com.
