CSU men’s tennis rallies to defeat Young Harris
COLUMBUS – Needing a comeback in singles, the sixth-ranked Columbus State University men's tennis team won all six singles matches to defeat Young Harris 7-2 Saturday afternoon. The Peach Belt Conference match took place at the Cooper Creek Tennis Center in Columbus.
"It was a strange match, but the guys responded when we needed to," said head coach Evan Isaacs. "We have to clean up our play in doubles because you can't count on six wins in singles in every match."
Young Harris (2-5, 0-2 PBC) took control of the match by winning two of the three doubles matches. CSU was able to blank the Mountain Lions at the second position where Maciej Kierkus and Matei Avram picked up the win. At first doubles, 16th-ranked KP Pannu and Zach Whaanga lost 8-4, while Jorge Vargas and Shao-Yu Yu also lost their match 8-4.
Singles play was a different story, however. Columbus State (7-0, 2-0) didn't struggle at all winning all 12 sets in convincing style. At the top spot, 17th-ranked Pannu bounced back from his doubles loss to win 6-1, 6-1. Also bouncing back from doubles was 47th-ranked Whaanga as he won 6-1, 6-1 as well at second singles. Yu made it three matches that ended 6-1, 6-1 as the freshman took fourth singles.
Paul Sprengelmeijer recorded a win at third singles taking the match 6-1, 6-3. Avram also had an easy match notching a 6-3, 6-4 victory at the fifth spot. At sixth singles, 39th-ranked Vargas won the first set 6-2 before inching by in the second 7-5.
Columbus State will have almost a whole week off before taking on Georgia College on Friday, March 3. The match will begin at 2 p.m. in Milledgeville.
Singles
1. #17 KP Pannu (CSU) def. Daniel Tiboldi (YHC) 6-1, 6-1
2. #47 Zach Whaanga (CSU) def. Alex Pavel (YHC) 6-1, 6-1
3. Paul Sprengelmeijer (CSU) def. Mateo Besada (YHC) 6-1, 6-3
4. Shao-Yu Yu (CSU) def. Raul Quevedo (YHC) 6-1, 6-1
5. Matei Avram (CSU) def. Tim Fleerkamp (YHC) 6-3, 6-4
6. #39 Jorge Vargas (CSU) def. Javier Villar (YHC) 6-2, 7-5
Doubles
1. Alex Pavel/Raul Quevedo (YHC) def. #16 KP Pannu/Zach Whaanga (CSU) 8-4
2. Maciej Kierkus/Matei Avram (CSU) def. Cole Conner/Javier Villar (YHC) 8-0
3. Mateo Besada/Tim Fleerkamp (YHC) def. Jorge Vargas/Shao-Yu Yu (CSU) 8-4
This story was originally published February 26, 2017 at 9:35 AM with the headline "CSU men’s tennis rallies to defeat Young Harris."