Cougar Netters Get Past Anderson 5-3 to Advance to Final

Milledgeville, GA - Eighth-ranked Columbus State took two of three matches in doubles and then earned three hard-fought wins in singles to get past Anderson 5-3 on Friday. The Cougars advance to face host Georgia College & State University on Saturday. The winner of Saturday's match advances to the Division II Tennis Championships in Winter Park, FL, next week.

Paul van Rensburg and Dimitri Caron defeated Ilya Zakharov and Renato Assuncao 8-5 at number two doubles for the first point for CSU. Frank Suarez and Luis Gonzalez did not fare well, falling 8-3 to Philip Pakebusch and Navaneetha Baskaran at numbur one. Nemanja Djuric and Diego Motivar had the easiest match, defeating Benjamin Pepion and Stephane Murray 8-2.

Suarez, the eighth-ranked singles player in Division II, fell to Pakebusch, ranked #7, 6-2, 6-2 in singles to knot the match 2-2. Shortly after that match ended, Gonzalez gave CSU the lead again with a convincing 6-0, 6-2 win over Pepion at #6. Djuric made it 4-2 with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Baskaran at #3, but Anderson inched closer as Assunacao defeated Motivar 6-2, 6-1 to make it 4-3. CSU got the clinching point from van Rensburg as he won at #5 over Zakharov with sets of 6-3, 6-4.

Click Here to View the match box score

CSU meets GCSU for the second time this season on Saturday with the winner advancing to the Division II Tennis Championships in Altamonte Springs, FL, next week. GCSU took a 5-4 win in on February 15 in an evenly-matched contest. Related Item: Box Score