Columbia
Notre Dame
1/25/2015 6:53:00 PM | Men's Tennis
SOUTH BEND, Ind. - For the second time in as many days, the No. 16 Columbia men's tennis team used its singles play to clinch a 4-2 victory over No. 14 Notre Dame at the Eck Tennis Pavilion in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend final.
Improving to 2-0 on the year, the Lions now punch their ticket to the 2015 ITA Division I National Men's Team Indoor Championships, to be played Feb. 13-16 at the Midtown Athletic Club. Columbia will be making the trip to nationals for the first time in over two decades while the win over the 14th-ranked Irish is the highest ranked opponent the Lions have ever upset in program history.
Three top-ten teams competed on the doubles court with Notre Dame's Quentin Monaghan captured the first win of the day, as they tallied a 6-2 win over Columbia's Richard Pham and Bert Vancura on the third court. Mike Vermeer and Winston Lin evened doubles as the junior-senior partnership took down ninth-ranked pair in the country Josh Hagar and Eddy Vocalschi, 7-6. The Irish's eighth-ranked duo of Alex Lawson and Billy Pecor used an identical result in the top match against the Lions' No. 10 ranked pair of Ashok Narayana and Max Schnur to take the point and go up 1-0.
Every singles match went three sets with Vermeer, who ranks 124th, providing the equalizer, getting past Lawson in the sixth slot, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4.
Dragos Ignat upset his second ranked opponent as the junior tripped up No. 82 Josh Hagar, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, on the second court. On court five, Pecor defeated Vancura, 5-7, 6-4, 6-3, to tie the match at 2-all.
Narayana put Columbia in front with a 1-6, 7-5, 6-4 victory over Schnurrenberg in the fourth position, while Schnur clinched the match with a 7-5, 5-7, 6-4, decision over Eddy Covalschi.
The Lions have two weeks off until they head to the national championships and host the ECAC Championships at the Dick Savitt Tennis Center Feb. 13-16.
RESULTS
Doubles
No. 1 - No. 8 Alex Lawson/Billy Pecor (ND) defeated No. 10 Ashok Narayana/Max Schnur (Columbia), 7-6 (7-3)
No. 2 - Mike Vermeer/Winston Lin (Columbia) defeated No. 9 Josh Hagar/Eddy Covalschi (Notre Dame), 7-6 (7-4)
No. 3 - Quentin Monaghan/Eric Schnurreberger (Notre Dame) defeated Richard Pham/Bert Vancura (Columbia), 6-2
Order of finish: 3, 2, 1
Singles
No. 1 - No. 22 Winston Lin (Columbia) vs. No. 37 Quentin Monaghan (ND), DNF, 6-2, 4-6, 6-6
No. 2 - Dragos Ignat (Columbia) defeated No. 82 Josh Hagar (ND), 6-2, 4-6, 7-5
No. 3 - Max Schnur (Columbia) defeated Eddy Covalschi (ND), 7-5, 5-7, 6-4
No. 4 - Ashok Narayana (Columbia) defeated Eric Schnurrenberger (ND), 1-6, 7-5, 6-4
No. 5 - Billy Pecor (ND) defeated Bert Vancura (Columbia), 5-7, 6-4, 6-3
No. 6 - No. 124 Mike Vermeer (Columbia) defeated Alex Lawson (ND), 4-6, 6-2, 6-4
Order of finish: 6, 2, 5, 4, 3
