GREENWOOD, S.C. – The No. 19-ranked Columbus State men's tennis team earned a key Peach Belt Conference road win on Saturday afternoon, topping No. 26 Lander 5-2 at the Joe Cabri Tennis Center.
The Cougars (11–9, 4–1 PBC) opened the match strong by capturing the doubles point. CSU's top duo of
Andrea Sandrone and
Elias Peter cruised to a 6–1 win over Markus Sorenson and Harry Pugh at No. 1 doubles. On court three,
Camilo Cano and
Samer Al Tori clinched the point with a 6–3 victory against Ludvig Danielsson and Merlin Bellet. The second doubles match was left unfinished, with
Benedek Szombathelyi and
Yike Liu tied 5–5 against Lander's Brendan Jayaprakash and Max Barriere.
In singles play, Columbus State took four of six matches to seal the team victory. Al Tori was first off court with a straight-sets win at No. 2, defeating Bellet 6–4, 6–3. Sandrone followed with a 7–6 (7-4), 6–3 victory over Sorenson at No. 3, giving CSU a 3–0 lead.
Peter and Liu provided the clinching points at the bottom of the lineup. Peter edged Ismail ElShafei 7–5, 7–5 at No. 5, while Liu outlasted Jayaprakash 7–6 (6), 6–3 on court six.
Lander (8–7, 1–3 PBC) earned its two points at the top and middle of the lineup. Pugh outlasted Cano 6–3, 1–6, 6–1 at No. 1 singles, and Mouad Naoui rallied past Szombathelyi 6–3, 5–7, 10–6 at the No. 4 spot.
Next Up
- Columbus State will begin postseason play on next weekend as they host the PBC Championships at the John W. Walden Tennis Center on Apr. 25-27
