Columbus State men’s tennis takes care of No. 24 Flagler

COLUMBUS – The ninth-ranked Columbus State University men's tennis team kicked off an important weekend with an 8-1 victory over 24th-ranked Flagler Friday. The Peach Belt Conference match took place at the Cooper Creek Tennis Center.

CSU (12-1, 5-1 PBC) snapped Flagler's 10-match winning streak and handed the Saints their first loss in conference play.

The Cougars took two of the three doubles matches to jump out in front. Playing at the top spot, Maciej Kierkus and KP Pannu took down FC's top duo 8-3 to record the first win. Zach Whaanga and Matei Avram made it 2-0 with a tight 9-7 victory at the second position. Flagler did get a win at third doubles as Jorge Vargas and Paul Sprengelmeijer dropped a tight 9-8 (8-5) match.

In singles action, Vargas got the first win for the Cougars sweeping his opponent at fifth singles. Whaanga snapped a singles losing streak with a 6-3, 6-2 win at second singles, while 43rd-ranked Pannu won a ranked showdown at first singles 7-5, 6-2. Sprengelmeijer also won in straight sets at the third spot 6-4, 6-3.

CSU registered three-set wins at both fourth and sixth singles. At the fourth spot, Avram won a tight 6-3, 6-7 (3-6), 10-7 match while Kierkus used a strong first set to go on to win 6-3, 2-6, 10-6.

The Cougars will continue play on Saturday taking on fourth-ranked Armstrong State. The match will begin at 11 a.m. at the Cooper Creek Tennis Center.

Singles

1. #43 KP Pannu (CSU) def. #40 Lukas Storck (FLG) 7-5, 6-2

2. Zach Whaanga (CSU) def. Hermann Gertmann (FLG) 6-3, 6-2

3. Paul Sprengelmeijer (CSU) def. Luca Bolla (FLG) 6-4, 6-3

4. Matei Avram (CSU) def. Felipe Carvalho (FLG) 6-3, 6-7 (3-6), 1-0 (10-7)

5. Jorge Vargas (CSU) def. Konstantin Dustmann (FLG) 6-0, 6-0

6. Maciej Kierkus (CSU) def. Daniel Arrien (FLG) 6-4, 2-6, 1-0 (10-6)

Doubles

1. Maciej Kierkus/KP Pannu (CSU) def. Lukas Storck/Felipe Carvalho (FLG) 8-3

2. Zach Whaanga/Matei Avram (CSU) def. Hermann Gertmann/Luca Bolla (FLG) 9-7

3. Konstantin Dustmann/Daniel Arrien (FLG) def. Jorge Vargas/Paul Sprengelmeijer (CSU) 9-8 (8-5)

This story was originally published March 25, 2017 at 7:08 PM with the headline "Columbus State men’s tennis takes care of No. 24 Flagler."