Columbia
Northwestern
3/14/2015 4:54:00 PM | Men's Tennis
EASTON, Ill. – No. 23 Columbia men's tennis saw its three-match win-streak halted in a match that came down to the final player, as the Lions could not overcome No. 16 Northwestern Saturday afternoon at the Combe Tennis Center.
With the setback, Columbia slipped to 6-3 on the year with each of its defeats coming to opponents in the ITA top-26. Northwestern, meanwhile, extended its win-streak to six straight to improve to 12-5 overall.
Each doubles court was decided by a 6-3 decision. Court one finished first with the Wildcats pair of Sam Shropshire and Alex Pasarenu upsetting the Lions' 20th-ranked senior duo of Ashok Narayana and Max Schnur. Mike Vermeer and Winston Lin kept their season-long undefeated streak alive in the second slot, as the 57th-ranked tandem in the nation took down Fedor Baev and Strong Kirchheimer. Northwestern's third duo of Alp Horoz and Mihir Kuman topped Dragos Ignat and Bert Vancura, to secure the doubles point for the hosts.
Shawn Hadavi quickly righted the ship for the visitors, leveling the match score at 1-1 with an impressive 6-2, 6-4, victory over Horoz on the sixth court. No. 16 Lin was up next for Columbia, polishing fort No. 88 Shropshire in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3. Vermeer made it a 3-1 Columbia match, as the junior bested Baev, 7-5, 6-4 at No. 4.
All three of the final courts went the distance with Northwestern claiming each match to take the victory.
Narayana roared to a 6-2 first set victory on the third court. The Wildcats' Logan Staggs stepped up, however, as he won the ensuing set, 6-3, and held onto his momentum in the third to claim a 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, win.
Similar conditions happened on the second court as No. 83 Ignat claimed the first set 6-3, before No. 107 Kirchheimer went on to claim identical 7-6 scores in sets two and three, respectively, to level the match.
It all came down to Vancura versus Kumar in the fourth position. Kumar and Vancura split the first sets with former taking the first, 7-5, and the later winning the second, 6-4. With the match on the line it was Northwestern's Kumar who would prevail, 7-5, to seal the 4-3 triumph.
Columbia heads to west for the Oracle Collegiate Challenge in Indian Wells, California, March 20-22.
#16 Northwestern 4 #23 Columbia 3
Doubles
1 - Sam Shropshire/Alex Pasarenu (Northwestern) defeated #20 Ashok Narayana/Max Schnur (Columbia), 6-3
2 - #57 Winston Lin/Mike Vermeer (Columbia) defeated Fedor Baev/Strong Kirchheimer (Northwestern), 6-3
3 - Alp Horoz/Mihir Kumar (Northwester) defeated Dragos Ignat/Bert Vancura (Columbia), 6-3
Singles
1 - #13 Winston Lin (Columbia) defeated #88 Sam Shropshire (Northwestern), 6-2, 6-3
2 - #107 Strong Kirchheimer (Northwestern) defeated #83 Dragos Ignat (Columbia), 3-6, 7-6, 7-6
3 - Logan Staggs (Northwestern) defeated Ashok Narayana (Columbia), 2-6, 6-3, 6-4
4 - Mihir Kumar (Northwestern) defeated Bert Vancura (Columbia), 7-5, 4-6, 7-5
5 - Mike Vermeer (Columbia) defeated Fedor Baev (Northwestern, 7-5, 6-4
6 - Shawn Hadavi (Columbia) defeated Alp Horoz (Northwestern), 6-2, 6-4
Order of Finish (D) 1, 2, 3, (S) 6,1, 5 , 3, 2, 4
