11E Rivalry and senior day headline penultimate week for men’s tennis
April 1, 2026

11E Rivalry and senior day headline penultimate week for men’s tennis

Carson-Newman Men’s Tennis will look to get back in the win column with a match against the #27 Pioneers on Thursday before senior day against Pikeville on Saturday.

 

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman Men's Tennis will look to get back in the win column with a match against the #27 Pioneers on Thursday before senior day against Pikeville on Saturday.

The Eagles' entire season has been a gauntlet in this challenging Southeast region, but last week the Eagles saw Anderson, #22 Wingate, and #9 Lee, one of the more challenging stretches of the year. C-N lost all three matches, but has the opportunity this week to bounce back in a major way.

At 4-12 on the year, the Eagles have the chance to right the ship against #27 Tusculum on Thursday. The Pioneers have been better than projected thus far this season, with a 15-2 overall record and a 6-1 conference mark. Tusculum was tied for 6th with Anderson in the SAC's preseason poll, but currently owns fourth-place honors in the standings.

This match will be played in Greeneville, where the Pioneers are a perfect 6-0. Tusculum will also work into the 11E Rivalry on a six-match winning streak.

While Tusculum does not have any ranked players nationally, the bottom of the lineup has delivered match after match. Their regular six, Reese McCann, is 7-3 in his singles matches this season in that spot and a perfect 4-0 at five. Angus Howard is similar, playing most of his matches at five for the Pioneers with a 9-3 record, but a 13-3 overall mark. Howard has how his last five singles matches in a row.

The Pioneers are 2-11 in singles at the first line, 9-7 at second singles, compared to 14-3 at fifth singles, and 12-4 at six.

The doubles pair of Kai Poelchai and Rens Verhaar has lost only once in 12 matches for Tusculum. They are also 4-1 in conference matches.

The Eagles are 2-15 all-time against the Pioneers and each of those wins has come within the past two matchups. The Eagles took down Tusculum 4-1 last season at home.

C-N will have the hot racket of Max Stollecker on their side. The sophomore is 7-3 in his singles matches this season and has combined with Louis Keenan for a 6-8 doubles mark, 13 of which were at the first line.

Then, on Saturday, C-N will host Pikeville for senior day at the Buddy Catlett Tennis Complex. The Eagles will celebrate their lone senior, Keegan Nelson, prior to the match start at 2:00.

The Bears are 4-4 overall this season and 3-1 in the AAC. They are coming fresh off a 7-0 win against Columbia on the 30th of March, but will face Milligan on Thursday before making the trip to Mossy Creek.

In terms of common opponents, the Eagles and Bears have both played Montreat this season. C-N lost to the Cavaliers 4-3 in the second match of the season, whereas Pikeville just beat Montreat last week 4-3.

This will be the first all-time matchup between C-N and Pikeville, and the final non-conference matchup of the season for the Eagles barring any NCAA tournament action that may come.

First serve between C-N and Tusculum is scheduled for 12:00 PM. For updates, follow @CN_Eagles on X and Instagram, or Carson-Newman Athletics on Facebook. Full coverage is also available at cneagles.com.

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