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By: Stephen Williams

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. – The third-ranked Columbus State University men's tennis team saw its postseason run come to a close Thursday afternoon with a 5-2 loss to No. 2 Barry. The national semifinal match was played at Sanlando Park.
 
Columbus State closes the year at 25-4, the most wins for the Cougars in head coach Evan Isaacs' 16-year tenure. CSU also matched its deepest postseason run.
 
"These guys fought really hard today," Isaacs said. "We were right there at the end and had our chances, which is all that you can ask for.
 
"This group put together an outstanding season and hopefully they can use this to propel us to bigger things in the future."
 
Columbus State seized the momentum early with a pair of doubles victories.
 
Jorge Vargas and Shao-Yu Yu got the Cougars on the board first with an 8-5 win at third doubles. Matei Avram and Zach Whaanga followed with an 8-3 triumph over the 25^th-ranked pair at the second spot.
 
KP Pannu and Maciej Kierkus went back and forth early with the second-ranked doubles team in the country, but ultimately fell 8-4.
 
Singles play was all Barry early, as the Bucs won the opening set in all six matches.
 
Barry quickly jumped in front of CSU with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Jorge Vargas and 6-2, 6-3 win over Zach Whaanga. The Bucs then pulled to within one point of the win with a 6-0, 6-3 defeat of Yu.
 
The Cougars were charging back in the other three matches however. After falling behind, CSU battled back and had Pannu, Sprengelmeijer and Avram all capture the second set.
 
Pannu jumped in front in the third set, but ultimately fell 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 to the third-ranked player opposite him.
 
Sprengelmeijer had his match stopped up with him up a game in the final set, while Avram was down in his final set.
 
Singles Competition
1. #3 Ahmed Triki (BARRY_MT) def. #32 KP Pannu (CSU-M) 6-4, 1-6, 6-4
2. #26 Pierre Montrieul (BARRY_MT) def. Zach Whaanga (CSU-M) 6-2, 6-3
3. #13 Carlos Gomez (BARRY_MT) vs. Paul Sprengelmeijer (CSU-M); match was unfinished: 6-1, 4-6, 0-1
4. #47 Nico Dreer (BARRY_MT) vs. Matei Avram (CSU-M); match was unfinished: 6-4, 3-6, 5-2
5. Fabian Pronnet (BARRY_MT) def. Jorge Vargas (CSU-M) 6-1, 6-2
6. Vivien Versier (BARRY_MT) def. Shao-Yu Yu (CSU-M) 6-0, 6-3
 
Doubles Competition
1. #2 Ahmed Triki and Pierre Montrieul (BARRY_MT) def. #22 KP Pannu and Maciej Kierkus (CSU-M) 8-4
2. Matei Avram and Zach Whaanga (CSU-M) def. #25 Carlos Gomez and Vivien Versier (BARRY_MT) 8-3
3. Jorge Vargas and Shao-Yu Yu (CSU-M) def. Nico Dreer and Thomas Bugeaud (BARRY_MT) 8-5