By Sean Montgomery, Sports Information Student Assistant
FLORENCE, S.C. – The No. 13 Georgia College Men's Tennis team (11-6, 3-4 PBC) was defeated in a Peach Belt Conference (PBC) road contest Sunday at No. 50 Francis Marion University (11-5, 2-3 PBC), 5-4. The contest came down to the wire, with the Bobcat men losing the final point in the last match.
Jannik Kumbier (Neumünster, Germany) and Taylor Powell (Martinez, Georgia) started well, picking up the first win of the day in second-slot doubles. The Bobcat pair handily defeated Robin Hoek and Tarass Thevenaz, 8-3. However, the Patriots responded with wins in the first and third slots.
Richard Ashforth and Philipp Sluga out-dueled Yannick Hass (Troisdorf, Germany) and Christian Graff (Lohmar, Germany) 8-5 in the first, while Jannik Roettlingsberger and Raul Madrid conquered Pedro Ecenarro (Santiago de Compostela, Spain) and Vincent Castermans (Grenoble, France) in a close third-slot match, 7-9.
The Bobcat men started in a tough hole; trailing 2-1 after doubles play, but responded with the first win in singles action to even the score. Kumbier dismantled Hoek in the second slot, dominating the Patriot 6-1 in straight sets.
A nationally-ranked battle ensued in the first slot, as No. 12 Hass matched up with No. 23 Ashforth. While Hass kept things close, Ashforth slightly outpaced the Bobcat senior 6-4, 6-4 to regain Francis Marion's lead.
The two teams once again traded blows in close matches as Graff toughed out a three-set contest in the fourth slot versus Roettlingsberger to win 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 and Powell fell 6-4, 4-6, 3-6 in the third slot to Sluga.
With the bout set at 4-3 in favor of the Patriots, the Bobcats needed a win to keep their chances alive. Castermans pulled out a clutch 6-2, 6-3 performance in the sixth slot, cruising to the win over Madrid; thus setting the contest in the fifth slot to be the deciding point.
Ecenarro battled to keep things close but could not overcome Thevenaz, falling 7-5, 7-6 (7-5) to end the day.
The Bobcat men return home for their next contest, taking on USC Aiken in their final home and PBC match of the regular season on Saturday, April 9 at 1 p.m.
The Georgia College Department of Athletics, two-time winners of the PBC Commissioner's Cup, sponsors 11 varsity athletic programs at the NCAA Division II level. As a Division II program, Bobcat Athletics prides itself on balancing the life of the student-athlete, evidenced by the teams' multiple appearances in post-season competition as well as documented academic success and community-service involvement. Keep up with @GCBobcats on social media for up-to-the-minute reports, and visit GCBobcats.PhotoReflect.com to purchase photo prints from home athletic contests.
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