Friday, February 15
Chicago, Ill.
1 p.m.
Columbia University
2
vs
4
Wake Forest
Photo by: Stormy Nesbit (ITA)
No. 12 Columbia Falls Short Against No. 1 Wake Forest
2/15/2019 6:42:00 PM | Men's Tennis
The Lions fell to third-seeded Wake Forest, 4-2, in the opening round of the ITA National Team Indoor Championship
CHICAGO — The 14th-seeded and 12th-ranked Columbia men's tennis team dropped a tough 4-2 decision to the defending national champions, top-ranked and third-seeded Wake Forest, on Friday afternoon at the Midtown Athletic Club in the opening round of the ITA National Team Indoor Championship.
"I thought it was a good match," said 37th-year head coach Bid Goswami following the contest. "Wake Forest is a good team. They're ranked third for a reason, but we had a lot of chances. Against a good a team, we have to utilize those chances. If you let them hang around, they become dangerous and that's what happened, but I thought the boys played well against a very good team.
"We showed a lot of fight after not playing well in the doubles and came up a little short. So, we'll regroup and hope to play a better match tomorrow and win against Notre Dame."
Columbia (3-1) got out to a rocky start as the Deamon Decons claimed a pair of doubles wins on courts two and three to gain the early lead.
Despite dropping the top two singles courts, Columbia began to build momentum after claiming four-of-six first sets in the match. Sophomore Austen Huang would eventually capitalize, earning a victory in straight sets at No. 5 singles to put the Lions on the board.
Sophomore Rian Pandole brought the Lions one point closer, earning a 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 victory on court six to bring the score to 3-2.
Wake Forest (10-1) ultimately sealed the match as senior Timothy Wang fell 1-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2 to No. 88 Rrezart Cungu on court four. Wang had four match points in the second set, but Cungu held him off to take the match.
Columbia will be back in action tomorrow, facing off against 11th-seeded Notre Dame in the consolation bracket. The Fighting Irish are coming off a 4-1 loss to sixth-seeded UCLA.
For the latest on the Columbia men's tennis, follow @ColumbiaMTennis on Twitter and on the web at GoColumbiaLions.com.
"I thought it was a good match," said 37th-year head coach Bid Goswami following the contest. "Wake Forest is a good team. They're ranked third for a reason, but we had a lot of chances. Against a good a team, we have to utilize those chances. If you let them hang around, they become dangerous and that's what happened, but I thought the boys played well against a very good team.
"We showed a lot of fight after not playing well in the doubles and came up a little short. So, we'll regroup and hope to play a better match tomorrow and win against Notre Dame."
Columbia (3-1) got out to a rocky start as the Deamon Decons claimed a pair of doubles wins on courts two and three to gain the early lead.
Despite dropping the top two singles courts, Columbia began to build momentum after claiming four-of-six first sets in the match. Sophomore Austen Huang would eventually capitalize, earning a victory in straight sets at No. 5 singles to put the Lions on the board.
Sophomore Rian Pandole brought the Lions one point closer, earning a 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 victory on court six to bring the score to 3-2.
Wake Forest (10-1) ultimately sealed the match as senior Timothy Wang fell 1-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2 to No. 88 Rrezart Cungu on court four. Wang had four match points in the second set, but Cungu held him off to take the match.
Columbia will be back in action tomorrow, facing off against 11th-seeded Notre Dame in the consolation bracket. The Fighting Irish are coming off a 4-1 loss to sixth-seeded UCLA.
For the latest on the Columbia men's tennis, follow @ColumbiaMTennis on Twitter and on the web at GoColumbiaLions.com.
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
2,3
#1 Singles Match
12
13
Petros Chrysochos / 0 (1/-) [WF]
66
#2 Singles Match
12
52
Bar Botzer / 0 (21/-) [WF]
76
#3 Singles Match
1234
6620
Melios Efstathiou / 0 (49/-) [WF]
374UF
#4 Singles Match
123
662
Rrezart Cungu / 0 (88/-) [WF]
176
#5 Singles Match
12
67
Yuval Solomon / 0 [WF]
46
#6 Singles Match
123
656
Julian Zlobinsky / 0 [WF]
474
Order of Finish:
1,2,5,6,4
Players Mentioned
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