Evanston, IL -- The No. 16 Columbia men's tennis team defeated No. 19 Northwestern 4-3 in Evanston, Illinois. Despite conceding the first two points to the Wildcats, #9
Alex Kotzen was able to shift the match momentum in the Lions favor. With the final result on the line, sophomore
Henry Ruger defeated Brian Berdusco to clinch the win.
After dropping the doubles and first singles point, Columbia trailed 0-2. From the top spot, however, Kotzen secured the Lions' first point. Against #67 Steven Forman, the sophomore flipped a 4-6 first set in his favor, 6-4, to push the match to a decisive third set. Here, Kotzen earned a decisive 6-1 victory.
Rookie
Max Westphal followed suit, recovering from a 4-6 first set to win the second, 6-4. With the momentum back in his hands, Westphal defeated #100 Trice Pickens 6-4. In keeping with the match's trend,
Austen Huang defeated Presley Thieneman with victories in the second and third sets (3-6, 6-4, 7-5).
Tied at 3-3, the match came down to Ruger's battle against Berdusco from the fifth spot. The sophomore captured the first set 7-6 with an 8-6 tiebreak before dropping the second 1-5. The final decision would come down to the final moments as Ruger earned his second consecutive tiebreak victory 7-2.
The #19 doubles team of Westphal and
Theo Winegar remains a force to be reckoned with as they defeated Northwestern's Forman and Felix Norby, 6-3.
The Lions will remain on the road, traveling to No. 11 Michigan on Monday.
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