COLUMBUS - The No. 1 Columbus State University men's tennis team will again play in the NCAA DII Men's Tennis Championship Round of 16 as the Cougars swept their way to a 4-0 win in the Southeast Region final over No. 16 Lander University on Tuesday afternoon. The Cougars hosted the regional at the John W. Walden Tennis Center.

The Cougars (20-2) are making a tradition of advancing to the championship site after reaching the Round of 16 for the fifth straight season following the win.

"Lander is a talented team and pushed us today," commented head coach Evan Isaacs. "The guys were able to dig deep though, and I'm proud of what they achieved. We still have some work to do to accomplish our ultimate goal."

CSU won the doubles point, but Lander made the Cougars work to gain the first point of the afternoon. Felix Steen and Christian Garay won the first match of the afternoon after disposing of Matthew de Groot and Bailey Horne 6-4 in the third spot. The Bearcats held leads late at first and second doubles until CSU's top duo turned it on. No. 6 Alvaro Regalado and Javier Cueto Ramos rallied to record a 7-5 win over Nick Beamish and Markus Sorensen to clinch the doubles point. Thomas de Negri and Hugo Regner were up 5-4 on No. 13 Pietro Martinetti and Tommaso Schold at second doubles when play was called off.

Columbus State quickly ran off two wins in singles action to put even more pressure on the Bearcats. No. 63 Garay continued his great work in the postseason with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Nicolas Chan in his fourth spot, while Martinetti defeated Alexandre Crepy 6-1, 6-2 to bring CSU one win away from the Round of 16.

Lander held off the clinching point for a few minutes until No. 1 Regalado capped off a comeback at first singles. Regalado dropped the first set 6-1 to Horne in the first flight until the senior turned on the jets. Regalado won the second 6-0 before winning 6-3 in the decisive-third set to send the Cougars to Altamonte Springs, Fla.

The remaining matches were all tight, including third singles where No. 38 Scold and Regner were early in the third set. Lander was up a set at second and sixth singles.

UP NEXT
Columbus State travels to Altamonte Springs for the NCAA Championship Round of 16, which begins on Wednesday, May 18. The bracket will be released in the coming days by the NCAA.