Columbus, OH -- The #27 Columbia men's tennis team will advance to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament after defeating #33 Notre Dame, 4-2, at host Ohio State University. The Lions will face the winner of Ohio State vs. Youngstown State, tomorrow.
Despite dropping the doubles point, Columbia only gained momentum in the singles competition where all four points were won.
First-year
Hugo Hashimoto put Columbia in the win column with the morning's sole straight set victory. After a tight first set battle, ending in a 7-5 tie-break set, Hashimoto concluded the match 6-4 in the second.
From the fourth court,
Henry Ruger moved the Lions into the lead. Opponent Connor Fu claimed the first set, but, undeterred, Ruger stormed back to take the second set 6-0 before finalizing the match with a 6-1 third set.
Notre Dame worked back into contention from the third court. Matthew Che defeated Columbia rookie
Max Westphal 6-2, 4-6, 4-6, to move the result to 2-2.
The Lions, however, refused to fail. Senior
Austen Huang recovered from a 2-6 first set loss to Jean-Marc Malkowski to conquer the fifth court 6-4, 6-4.
Roko Horvat cinched the match on the sixth court, defeating the Irish's Peter Conklin in the comeback victory of the year. After losing the first set 0-6, Horvat narrowly collected the second 7-6 (7-5, tiebreak). With the Lions' season on the line, the sophomore sent Notre Dame home behind a 6-4 final set.
