Columbus State won its first Division II Men's Tennis Championship as the Cougars came from behind to defeat Barry 5-4 in the national championship at the Surprise Tennis & Racquest Compex in Surprise, Ariz.
The Cougars took an early 2-1 lead after winning doubles matches Nos. 1 and 3, but fell behind 4-3 as Barry charged back during singles competition. With just two singles matches remaining and Columbus State needing to win both to take home the championship, Alvaro Regalado and KP Pannu earned third-set victories within minutes of each other. After Regalado's victory in singles match No. 3, Pannu's teammates gathered around singles court No. 1, where Pannu hit a cross-court winner to win the match 6-7 (7-2), 6-2, 6-1, and ultimately, winning the Cougars the championship.
The back-and-forth competition throughout the afternoon lived up to the billing of a national championship between the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked teams. Two of the three doubles matches were decided by just two games and four of the six singles matches went to three sets. It was Barry's seventh national runner-up finish.
Interactive bracket | Printable bracket
Saturday's results:
Doubles
Regalado/Whaanga (CSU) def. Tous/Zupancic (Barry) 8-3
Montrieul/Bayldon (Barry) def. Pannu/Avram (CSU) 8-6
Vargas/Kokulewski (CSU) def. Gomez/Versier (Barry) 9-7
Singles
Pannu (CSU) def. Montrieul (Barry) 6-7 (7-2), 6-2, 6-1
Gomez (Barry) def. Whaanga (CSU) 6-4, 4-6, 6-2
Regalado (CSU) def. Versier (Barry) 6-7 (8-6), 6-2, 6-1
Ventura (Barry) def. Avram (CSU) 4-6, 6-2, 6-0
Bayldon (Barry) def. Vargas (CSU) 6-4, 7-6 (7-5)
Kokulewski (CSU) def. Matteoli (Barry) 7-6 (7-5), 6-4
