Wolves drop heartbreaker 5-4 to Eagles of Carson-Newman

Box Score

NEWBERRY, S.C. – The Newberry men’s tennis team lost a heartbreaker 5-4 to a visiting Carson-Newman squad at the Cannon Tennis Courts on the Newberry College campus.

Newberry (10-7, 1-1 SAC) fell behind Carson-Newman (6-2, 2-0) early when the Eagles took two doubles points from the Wolves. Newberry’s lone point in doubles action came as sophomore duo Michael Saunders (Christchurch, New Zealand) and Vinicius Botelho (Fortaleza, Brazil) earned an 8-4 victory at No. 1.

Newberry evened the match when Saunders and Botelho earned straight sets victories at No. 1 and No. 2 singles, respectively. The match moved back into Carson-Newman’s favor when sophomore Mohammed Chakir (Rabat, Morocco) fell at No. 3.

Newberry took a 4-3 lead when freshman Carlos Nicolopulos (Valencia, Venezuela) won set one by a score of 6-4, before a dominating 6-0 win in the second set at No. 5.

It appeared that the Wolves were on the way to a second South Atlantic Conference victory as both junior Cal Loveridge (Derby, Debyshire, England) and sophomore Jeffery Kiser (Newberry, S.C.) earned 6-2 set one victories at No. 4 and No. 6 singles, respectively. Loveridge forced a tiebreak in the second set, but fell to his opponent before dropping the third set tying the team match 4-4.

In a similar fashion to Loveridge, Kiser dropped back-to-back sets as the Eagles escaped Newberry with a victory.

The Wolves hit the road on Sunday as the tennis team travels to Belmont Abbey for a Sunday afternoon showdown.

Carson-Newman 5, Newberry 4
Mar 17, 2012
Newberry, S.C.
Cannon Tennis Courts

Singles
1. Michael Saunders (NEWM) def. Dusty Davis (CN) 6-1, 6-2
2. Vinicius Botelho (NEWM) def. Warren McClure (CN) 6-3, 6-2
3. Derek Holdway (CN) def. Mohammed Chakir (NEWM) 6-4, 6-4
4. Paul Birdsong (CN) def. Cal Loveridge (NEWM) 2-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-3
5. Carlos Nicolopulos (NEWM) def. Eric Mueller (CN) 6-4, 6-0
6. Garret Duron (CN) def. Jeffery Kiser (NEWM) 2-6, 6-2, 6-2

Doubles
1. Michael Saunders/Vinicius Botelho (NEWM) def. Dusty Davis/Eric Mueller (CN) 8-4
2. Paul Birdsong/Warren McClure (CN) def. Mohammed Chakir/Cal Loveridge (NEWM) 8-6
3. Austin Mackay/Derek Holdway (CN) def. Carlos Nicolopulos/David Sons (NEWM) 8-2

Match Notes
Carson-Newman 6-2, 2-0 SAC
Newberry 10-7, 1-1 SAC
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (2,1,3,5,4,6)