Big close from Louis Keenan gives men’s tennis first SAC win of the season
Carson-Newman hangs on with help from the doubles point and strong matches from the ones, twos, and fives line to lift them over UVA Wise.
VIDEO: Nate Gangelhoff Post Match
VIDEO: Max Stollecker Post Match
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman hangs on with help from the doubles point and strong matches from the ones, twos, and fives line to lift them over UVA Wise.
It was about as storybook a finish as you could have written for C-N Men's Tennis against UVA Wise, with every Eagle watching on court one when Louis Keenan closed the match in the third set to make it 4-3 and hand Carson-Newman the win. The victory is the Eagles' first in a month, and snaps a five-match losing streak.
"I think that's a much needed of a breath of fresh air, a big sigh of relief in some ways," said head coach Nate Gangelhoff. "We needed that win, that was a win that we had to have to kind of put us in good standings in the conference."
Louis Keenan at first singles was the finishing match. The sophomore turned around a 3-6 set one loss to win 6-3, 6-3 in the final two frames. With the win, Keenan is 2-4 in singles play, and helped C-N win their 7th match in a row against the Highland Cavaliers.
"I know he can handle it. I know he will be in more of those situations in the future. And he knows that too for the position he's in. So, I have a lot of trust in him," said Gangelhoff.
Keenan's doubles partner, Max Stollecker, was confident in his teammate's ability to get the job done.
"I trusted him the most because we played doubles together so much and I knew that if one guy had to clinch, I trust him the most to be honest," said Stollecker.
Keenan's win at first singles wasn't his only one of the day. He and Stollecker banded together at first doubles to take down Wise in a 6-4 decision. With the win, Stollecker and Keenan are 4-4 as a doubles pair.
"It really helped being here at home, get some support from the crowd. It always helps when the guys are cheering for you and not just the other team cheering or the other guys. The crowd was probably the most important part today," said Stollecker.
Selected as the player of the match, Stollecker fought through windy conditions to pick up a dominant 6-4, 6-0 win at second singles.
"He problem solved quickly. You know, he kind of showed his experience coming from, you know, a D1 school. He's able to play at a very high level and problem solve quickly," said Gangelhoff. "He played very smart. Didn't have to out muscle his guy, but he was able to outmaneuver, outsmart his guy."
Stollecker and Keenan were helped by the second doubles pair of Yassin Ali and Leonard Baecker who took a 6-2 win at the second doubles slot to give C-N the doubles point. Wade Donovan and Giancarlo Rosario played third doubles and fell in a tiebreaker 7-6 (7-3).
Ali and Baecker are 1-2 as a doubles team while Donovan and Rosario are 0-6.
Rosario turned his luck around, though, in singles. The freshman collected his first singles win of his collegiate career this afternoon, defeating Wise's five 6-3, 2-6, 6-4.
"Wade and Giancarlo almost had it so we almost had a clean sweep at doubles. And they have come a long way, they're still learning how to play with each other a little bit," said Gangelhoff. "That freshman experience can show sometimes, but this was a good showing from them."
Leonard Baecker fought until the end, taking the match at third singles to three sets, where he would eventually fall 6-3, 2-6, 4-6. Yassin Ali's match at fourth singles was a 6-4, 6-1 decision in favor of Wise, and Wade Donovan took five games at 6th singles, but dropped the match 6-2, 6-3.
With that win, The Eagles are a perfect 7-0 against the Cavaliers all-time and move to 2-8 on the season and 1-2 in SAC play. They turn around to Friday when they welcome Hillsdale to the Buddy Catlett Tennis Complex at 1:00 PM. For updates, follow @CN_Eagles on X and Instagram, or check cneagles.com for full coverage.
