AUSTIN, TX -- The Columbia men's tennis team defeated Oklahoma State after falling to #9 Texas at the ITA Kickoff Weekend is Austin, Texas. The Lions' victory over the Big 12 opponent, marked the program's third consecutive victory over the Cowboys. Columbia was one of three Ivy programs selected to compete over the weekend, joining #24 Princeton and Harvard at various sights around the country.
After dropping a fiercely competitive doubles point, Columbia earned wins from the top four singles on Sunday to leave Texas with a win. #12
Alex Kotzen and #87
Hugo Hashimoto grabbed straight set victories from the first and second spot, defeating Tyler Zink (6-3, 6-4) and Alex Garcia (6-1, 6-4), respectively.
Austen Huang took down Sebastian Nothhaft in straight sets as well, earning the win 6-2, 6-1 from the third spot.
With just one match left to play, the Lions and Cowboys stood at a 3-3 standstill. Having already claimed the first set from Maxim Verboven 6-2,
Ishaan Ravichander held the Lions fate in his hands. After pushing through a tightly contested second set which saw the Columbian go down 0-3 to start, Ravichander claimed the singles, and over match victory, with a 7-2 tiebreaker result. Following a 2-2 start in the tiebreaker, the sophomore rattled off five consecutive points claiming the first dual match overall, and deciding, victory of his collegiate career.
The Lions fell to eventual ITA Indoor-qualifier Texas in a complete sweep on Saturday. Hashimoto was taken down by #20 Micah Braswell, 6-2, 6-3, while teammate Ravichander was overcome by #73 Cleeve Harper (6-1, 6-1).
Roko Horvat was the last Lion to face a ranked opponent, meeting #105 Siem Woldeab (6-1, 6-2). Texas went on to defeat Oregon 4-0 in Sunday's championship match.
Columbia returns home next Saturday, February 5, for a 4:00 P.M. match against Old Dominion at the Cary Leeds Tennis Center.
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