Columbus State Tennis Has Strong Showing at USTA/ITA Southeast Regional
SUMTER, SC – The Columbus State University Men's and Women's Tennis teams had a strong showing over the weekend at the USTA/ITA Tennis Southeast Regional hosted by Francis Marion University and Palmetto Tennis Center. The Cougars posted 16 wins over the weekend.
"Overall, it was a great weekend for us with a lot of competitive matches," said CSU tennis coach Evan Issacs. "The players are gaining experience and the coaches are learning what each player needs to work on to get better. We were in some real battles, and it was a very productive weekend for everybody."
Day One
Leading the way for the Cougars on day one of Men's singles Flight A play in the Round of 64 was senior Christophe Noblet who defeated Juan Vallejo (Coker College) 6-0, 6-0. Also earning wins were sophomore Martin Shishkov, and freshman Danilo Sardelli.
In Female singles play, two Lady Cougars posted wins. In Women's Flight A play, sophomore Tracy Castillo earned a win against Jessica Gardefjord (Armstrong Atlantic) after she was forced to withdraw because of injury. In Women's Flight B play sophomore Renata Paiva advanced with a win over Camila Kurebayashi (Mount Olive College) winning in straight sets 6-1, 6-1. In Flight B (Round of 64) play Renata Paiva advanced due to a withdrawal by Monica Downey (Francis Marion). Also Sophomore Andrea Redrado earned a win as she took down Stasa Vujosevic (North Georgia) 6-3, 6-4.
In double's action the CSU tennis teams posted four wins on the day. On the Men's side, Filip Cojbasic and Martin Shishkov posted a win over Matthew Lichtenstein and Drew Owen (Wingate) 8-3. In Round of 16 Flight A play Cojbasic and Shishkov continued their run, knocking off Stan Atema and Daniel Gonzales (Anderson) 8-5. In other Flight A action, third seed Christophe Noblet and Gordan Divljak cruised past Johann De Wit and Phillip Lawson (Pfeiffer) 8-3. In Women's action, fifth seed Tracy Castillo and Ranata Paiva defeated Kayla Barksdale and Bertille Lion (Georgia College & State) 9-7.
Day Two
In day two Men's singles Flight A action, the only Cougar to advance was senior Christophe Noblet who defeated Manuel Gulglielmeti (USC Aiken) 6-1, 6-1. Noblet's run was halted in the Round of 16 as he was defeated by Oshada Wijemanne (Francis Marion) 6-7, 7-6, 6-2. In Women's Flight A singles play, Tracy Castillo defeated Stephanie Humphrey (USC Aiken) 6-0, 6-0. In Flight B play Andrea Redrado posted a win over Kerry Hall (Francis Marion) 6-0, 6-3. Also posting a win was Renata Paiva who defeated Lindsay Fredrick (Brevard College) 6-2, 6-1. In Round of 16 play in Flight B, Andrea Redrado was defeated by Kelli Ferguson (Wingate) 6-0, 6-3.
In Men's quarterfinal doubles action Christophe Noblet and Gordan Divljak advanced to the semifinals with a win over Henrique Boturao and Bernardo Fernandes (Augusta State) 8-3. Their run was brought to an end in the semifinals as they were taken down by top-seed Rafael Array and Mikk Irdoja (Armstrong Atlantic) 8-3. In Women's doubles quarterfinal action Tracy Castillo and Renata Paiva were defeated by Viktorya Semyrodenko and Ivanna Krommelova (Clayton State) 8-1.
