C-N drops conference opener with Lenoir-Rhyne
Carson-Newman Men’s Tennis opened its SAC schedule with a 0-4 loss to the Bears and moves to 1-5 on the year.
HICKORY, N.C. – Carson-Newman Men's Tennis opened its SAC schedule with a 0-4 loss to the Bears and moves to 1-5 on the year.
C-N is now 11-6 all-time against the Bears with two losses in as many seasons.
"I give a lot of credit to LR. They are an extremely good team and they came to play. We simply didn't," said head coach Nate Gangelhoff. "We didn't have enough energy overall. We made a lot fo self inflicted mistakes."
The day started with Carson-Newman falling in the doubles point. The first doubles pair of Max Stollecker and Louis Keenan dropped their match 2-6 as the first to finish. Darko Kolevski and Giancarlo Rosario put up the same score as well at third doubles. At second doubles, Yassin Ali and Leonard Baecker were tied at 4 apiece, but their match went unfinished.
With LR up one after doubles, the Eagles had a heard time holding the Bears off. Louis Keenan fell 1-6, 1-6 at first singles for his second singles match of the year, he is now 1-2 in solo play. His loss put the Bears up 2-0.
At fifth singles, Giancarlo Rosario had a hard time adjusting. The freshman fell 1-6, 3-6, and Wade Donovan fell in the six slot 3-6, 1-6 for the clinch. Rosario and Donovan have still yet to record a win in singles this season.
"We kept getting moments where we could take momentum and get some more games and sets. In the end, LR was just too good and we need to be more disciplined and focused in crucial moments," said Gangelhoff.
In his first official singles match of the year, Yassin Ali fell 5-7 in the first set, but has worked his way out to a 1-0 lead in the second before the match ended.
Max Stollecker was a bright spot for the Eagles in set one, grabbing the 6-4 win. He was tied 3-3 in set two at second singles before the Bears clinched. Stollecker is still 3-0 in his singles matches that have been finished.
Darko Kolevski was also building momentum for the Eagles at third singles. The sophomore had won his first set 7-5 and was down 0-1 in set two when Lenoir-Rhyne won the match. Kolevski has yet to win a singles match in 2026.
Carson-Newman has now lost three straight matches and owns a 1-5 mark on the year. This also marks the second match in a row they have lost 0-4. In need of a pick-me-up, the men will set their sights on Monday, March 2nd, when they travel to take on #11 North Georgia. That match is scheduled to begin at 2:00 PM. For updates, follow @CN_Eagles on X and Instagram, or check cneagles.com for full coverage.
