ROME, Ga. - The Columbus State University men's and women's tennis teams each had a doubles team compete on the first day of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's ITA Cup on Thursday, Oct. 12, at the Rome Tennis Center, with the Cougar duo of Mariana Ramirez and Nikoline Gullacksen winning their match to advance to Friday's quarterfinals. 

The men's doubles team consisting of Justin Welz and Camilo Cano fell short in the opening round, falling to the No. 16 seeded Phil Exner and Alex Blanchar of Ouachita Baptist University. The duo will now play in the men's doubles west draw quarterfinal Friday, Oct. 13 at 4 p.m. against the doubles team from Azusa Pacific University.

P. Exner / A. Blanchar (OBU) def. J. Welz / C. Cano (CSU) 7-6 (7-5 TB), 6-2

The No. 3 seeded women's team consisting of Mariana Ramirez and Nikoline Gullacksen defeated the No. 4 seeded team Isabella Rios and Sofia Teran from Dallas Baptist University in their tournament opening round. They will now advance to the quarterfinals on Friday, Oct. 13 at 5:30 p.m., where they will face off against the No. 1 seeded doubles team from Wayne State University. 

M. Ramirez / N. Gullacksen (CSU) def. I. Rios / S. Teran (DBU) 6-4, 7-5

UP NEXT 
The men's doubles team, J. Welz and C. Cano, will compete in the west draw quarterfinal on Friday, Oct. 13, at 4 p.m. against Azusa Pacific University. The duo of M. Ramirez and N. Gullacksen will play in the quarterfinals of the ITA Cup on Friday, Oct. 13, at 5:30 p.m. at the Rome Tennis Center.