SAVANNAH, Ga. – No. 11 Georgia College Men's Tennis (15-9) found itself locked in a battle with No. 22 University of North Georgia (18-7) in the NCAA Southeast Region #1 semifinals, but a rally in singles play came up short as the Bobcats ended their season in a 5-3 loss to the Nighthawks Sunday.
The Bobcats fell behind 2-1 after doubles play.
The lone Georgia College point came in the first slot, where the No. 4 pairing of senior Yannick Hass (Troisdorf, Germany) and junior Christian Graff (Lohmar, Germany) out-lasted Philipp Mueller and Niklas Zielen 9-8. The Bobcat pair finishes the season at 11-3.
The other two spots didn't go the Bobcats' way, an 8-6 loss in the second slot and an 8-4 defeat in the third. Senior Taylor Powell (Martinez) and sophomore Jannik Kumbier (Neumunster, Germany) dropped the second-slot match to Andre Canino and Lukas Moritzen. Sophomores Vincent Castermans (Grenoble, France) and Pedro Ecenarro (Santiago de Compostella, Spain) fell to Alexander Reinauer and Joe Klokow.
Needing three victories in singles play to close out the Bobcats, Ecenarro shifted the tide and tied the match with a win in fifth singles, making short work of Moritzen 6-0, 6-1. The Bobcat sophomore ends his season a team-best 17-4.
A fourth singles loss put UNG back in front 3-2. Hugues Renald came from behind to take down Graff 2-6, 6-3, 6-3. A third-slot loss for Powell put North Georgia up 4-2, another three-set marathon. Reinauer edged the Bobcat senior 2-6, 6-0, 7-6 (6-1).
No. 30 Hass rallied the squad with a three-setter in a ranked battle, edging No. 35 Mueller 3-6, 6-2, 6-2. A 2015 All-American, Hass ends his senior season with a 12-8 mark.
The clinching point came from the sixth slot, where Canino beat Castermans 6-4, 6-2, 6-2.
The 2016 season now comes to a close for GC Men's Tennis, as the Bobcats made it a solid decade of NCAA Tournament appearances. Hass made All-Peach Belt Conference (PBC) First Team in both singles and doubles, teaming with Graff.
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. Sign up at @GCBobcats on Twitter and Facebook for up-to-the-minute reports, and visit GCBobcats.PhotoReflect.com to purchase photo prints from home athletic contests.
