EDMOND, Okla. - In the third-place match of the 2020 Division II ITA National Indoor Championship, the No. 3 Columbus State University women's tennis team dropped a 4-2 decision to No. 5 Nova Southeastern on Sunday. The championship took place at the Oak Tree Country Club in Edmond, Okla., just outside of Oklahoma City.

The Lady Cougars (6-3) took the court less than 12 hours after a grueling match against No. 8 Hawaii Pacific wrapped up late on Saturday night. 

"This was a grind for the ladies," said head coach Evan Isaacs. "I'm super proud of their effort, and they fought hard all weekend long against the top competition in the nation at our level."

"I would like to thank the ITA and the entire tennis community of Oklahoma City for putting on an excellent event. To give our players at this level this opportunity was a brilliant idea "

Nova Southeastern (10-1) took the early 1-0 lead after winning first and second doubles. The freshman duo of Kristina Baran and Neila Trklja had the tough task of going against the top-ranked doubles team in the nation in Natalie Espinal and Sarah Wardenburg. The No. 1 team took the match 6-2. At second doubles, Candice Paya and Beatriz Lopez fell 6-3. Third doubles went unfinished with Amanda Citre and Luise Sachs deadlocked at four.

Columbus State made the Sharks work for the win in singles play. After going down 2-0 following a loss at sixth singles, Trklja got the Lady Cougars in the win column with a 6-2, 6-3 decision over Tingting Pei in the fourth spot. In a top-10 showdown at first singles, No. 4 Espinal edged No. 10 Sachs 7-5 in the first set before going on to take the second 6-0 to put Nova one win away from the match victory.

With the remaining three matches in the third set, fifth singles was the first to wrap up. Baran prolonged the day for CSU after rallying for a 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 win. At second singles, No. 21 Paya was doing all she could to pull out a thrilling victory over Karolina Snita. However, Snita won the final two sets, including a tight 7-5 margin in the decisive third, to give Nova Southeastern the win.

In the lone unfinished match, No. 17 Lopez was leading No. 38 Daniela Obando 2-1 in the third at third singles.

Up Next

The John W. Walden Tennis Center will be busy over the course of March with the Lady Cougars playing seven straight matches at home beginning on Friday, March 6 against No. 13 Azusa Pacific. All the action begins at 9 a.m.