VALDOSTA, Ga. – The upset-minded Georgia College Men's Tennis team (3-1) came up short against their first nationally-ranked opponent of the new season, a 6-3 loss at No. 5 Valdosta State University (3-1) Wednesday.
Doubles action put the Bobcats in a 2-1 hole. The victory in doubles came on the second line, where senior Pedro Ecenarro (Santiago de Compostella, Spain) teamed with freshman Enzo Kohn (Rio de Janiero, Brazil) for the first time, a hard-fought 9-8 (9-7) win over Francisco Yim Kim and Fernando Rivas.
The first slot featured an 8-6 loss for junior Jannik Kumbier (Neumunster, Germany) and sophomore Robin Moller (Hamburg, Germany) to Jordi Mas and Florian Simbozel. The third doubles pairing of freshmen Gabriel Caron (Johns Creek) and Cole Heller (Woodstock) lost by the same score to Axel Holm and Xavier Pineda.
The highlight of singles play for the Bobcats was Ecenarro's upset of No. 14 Mas in the first slot, the Bobcat getting the 6-0, 4-6, 10-5 win. The other Georgia College victory came from the fifth line, where Kohn stayed undefeated (3-0) by passing Holm 7-5, 6-2.
In second singles, Simbozel took down Kumbier in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2, while Moller fell in third singles 6-3, 6-4 to Rivas. The fourth slot was a 6-3, 6-0 defeat for Caron at the hands of Pineda. Heller lost in sixth singles as well, 6-0, 6-4 to Davis Stewart.
The Bobcats are back in action Saturday, March 3 at 1 p.m., playing host to Georgia Southwestern State University.
The Georgia College Department of Athletics, two-time winners of the PBC Commissioner's Cup and the 2017 PBC Sportsmanship Institution of the Year, 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.
