CSU men’s tennis tops Shorter in first home match of 2017

COLUMBUS – In the first match ever at the newly opened Cooper Creek Tennis Center, the sixth-ranked Columbus State University men's tennis team defeated Shorter 9-0 Wednesday afternoon.

After spending decades playing at the Mary V. Blackmon Tennis Center on campus, the Cougar tennis programs moved a few miles down the road to the top notch Cooper Creek Tennis Center.

"This was an important day for our programs and I couldn't be happier to open the new facility with two wins," said CSU head coach Evan Isaacs. "Hopefully there are many more wins that are coming here."

Doubles play was competitive but Columbus State (3-0) was still able to take all three matches. Second doubles was all CSU as Maciej Kierkus and Matel Avram won 8-1. At first doubles, 16th-ranked KP Pannu and Zach Whaanga played a tight match early, but pulled away for an 8-4 win. To complete the sweep, Jorge Vargas and Shao-Yu Yu won third doubles 8-5.

In singles action, the Cougars won all 12 sets played to grab the six wins. At the top spot, 17th-ranked Pannu grabbed a 6-2, 6-0 win. In the most dominant match of the day, 47th-ranked Whaanga blanked his opponent 6-0, 6-0 at the second position. Paul Sprengelmeijer played the tightest match winning the first set 7-5 at the third spot. However, the second set was easier as the Cougar won 6-1.

Yu took care of business at fourth singles 6-1, 6-1, while Avram won 6-1, 6-3 at the fifth position. Playing at sixth singles, 39th-ranked Vargas breezed by his opponent to win 6-2, 6-0.

Columbus State will be back in action on Friday hosting Morehouse. The match will begin at noon.

Singles

1. #17 KP Pannu (CSU) def. Jose M. M. Manzano (SHORTER) 6-2, 6-0

2. #47 Zach Whaanga (CSU) def. Jimmy Kerjouan (SHORTER) 6-0, 6-0

3. Paul Sprengelmeijer (CSU) def. Talha Zubair (SHORTER) 7-5, 6-1

4. Shao-Yu Yu (CSU) def. Arthur Amat (SHORTER) 6-1, 6-1

5. Matei Avram (CSU) def. Patrick Sanders (SHORTER) 6-1, 6-3

6. #39 Jorge Vargas (CSU) def. Arthur Tourlousse (SHORTER) 6-2, 6-0

Doubles

1. #16 KP Pannu/Zach Whaanga (CSU) def. Jimmy Kerjouan/Jose M. M. Manzano (SHORTER) 8-4

2. Maciej Kierkus/Matei Avram (CSU) def. Arthur Amat/Talha Zubair (SHORTER) 8-1

3. Jorge Vargas/Shao-Yu Yu (CSU) def. Arthur Tourlousse/Patrick Sanders (SHORTER) 8-5

This story was originally published February 10, 2017 at 7:57 PM with the headline "CSU men’s tennis tops Shorter in first home match of 2017."