Back Again, No. 10 Columbus State Defeats No. 28 Western New Mexico 5-1 to Advance to Final Four
Altamonte Springs, FL – No. 10 Columbus State University men's tennis team made program history again Thursday morning as the Cougars defeated No. 28 Western New Mexico 5-1 to advance to the National semifinal match for the second consecutive season. With the victory, CSU improves to 19-4 while the Mustangs of WNM end the season with 19-6 mark.
In doubles action, the Cougars took two-of-three from the Mustangs to take the 2-1 advantage. Andre Mordhorst and Pasqual Duttlinger defeated Rodrigo Almeida and Jean Beniot-Belin 8-2 at third doubles. The Cougar duo has yet to lose more than two games in any of their four matches in the NCAA Tournament. Filip Cojbasic and Martin Shishkov gave the Cougars an important victory at second doubles as they defeated Yair Banuelos and Henning Thrien 8-5. No. 4 Christophe Noblet and Gordan Divljak dropped their first set in over 14 matches as they lost to No. 34 Emmanuel Mensah and Johan Weich 8-5 at first doubles.
In his first match of the NCAA Tournament, Hendrik Paetzel gave the Columbus State the victory in sixth singles as he defeated Jean Beniot Belin 6-0, 6-0. Andre Mordhorst moved the Cougars one victory away from returning to the Final Four as he took down Henning Thrien 6-1, 6-4. Martin Shishkov clinched the match for CSU as he took down by Johan Weich 6-3 in the first set and edged past him the second set 7-6 (7-3) as the junior needed a tiebreaker to win the match.
No. 31 Christophe Noblet also needed to win an extra game against No. 44 Emmanuel Mensah in the first set as he won 7-5 and was trailing 2-1 in the second when the match was called. In another close match, Gordan Divljak was edged by Yair Banuelos 7-5 in the first set of action and was down 3-2 in the second at second singles. At third singles, Pasqual Duttlinger won his first set 6-4 against Rodrigo Almeida and was just two games away from putting away the Mustang as play was called off.
Columbus State will now play No. 2 Valdosta State Friday morning at 9:00 a.m. The Blazers defeated CSU last season in the National semifinal match 5-0. Valdosta took down St. Edwards in the quarterfinals Thursday morning 5-0 to advance. Tomorrow's semifinal match will be at Sanlando Park in Altamonte Springs, Florida.
Singles
1. #31 Christophe Noblet (CSU) vs. #44 Emmanuel Mensah (WNM) – 7-5, 1-2 unfinished
2. Gordan Divljak (CSU) vs. Yair Banuelos (WNM) – 5-7, 2-3 unfinished
3. Pasqual Duttlinger (CSU) vs. Rodrigo Almeida (WNM) – 6-4, 4-3 unfinished
4. Andre Mordhorst (CSU) def. Henning Thrien (WNM) - 6-1, 6-4
5. Martin Shishkov (CSU) def. Johan Weich (WNM) – 6-3, 7-6 (7-3)
6. Hendrik Paetzel (CSU) def. Henning Thrien (WNM) – 6-0, 6-0
Doubles
1. #34 Mensah and Weich (WNM) def. #4 Noblet and Divljak (CSU) – 8-5
2. Filip Cojbasic and Shishkov (CSU) def. Banuelos and Thrien (WNM) - 8-5
3. Duttlinger and Mordhorst (CSU) def. Almeida and Beniot- Belin (WNM) - 8-2
