for the first time . Saturday ’ s winners will advance to the sub-regional final on Sunday with a trip to the national finals on the line .
In Savannah , Armstrong State will host Georgia College on Saturday with Lander and USC Aiken following . The two winners will meet on Sunday for a spot in the finals .
NCAA Men ’ s Tennis : Cougars Headed to National Semifinals
ALTAMONTE SPRINGS , Fla . - The third-ranked Columbus State University men ’ s tennis team took down 14th-ranked Azusa Pacific 5-1 Wednesday evening in the national quarterfinals . The match was played at Sanlando Park .
Columbus State ( 25-3 ) is now one of four teams still remaining in Division II and will take on second-ranked Barry at 1 p . m . on Thursday .
“ We have said all year that this team could go as far as they wanted and here they are as one of the last four standing ,” head coach Evan Isaacs said . “ We still have work to do though , and Barry is a great team .”
The Cougars turned in a perfect start to the match , taking all three doubles matches .
Jorge Vargas and Shao-Yu Yu raced past the opposition 8-2 for a win at third doubles . Matei Avram and Zach Whaanga won 8-4 at second doubles and then 22nd-ranked KP Pannu and Maciej Kierkus capped the sweep with an 8-5 win at the top spot .
Avram kept the CSU momentum rolling in singles play with a straight set 6-4 , 6-1 victory at fourth singles .
Azusa Pacific then grabbed its only point of the match as KP Pannu fell 6-1 , 6-3 to the top-ranked player in the country .
Paul Sprengelmeijer clinched the victory for the Cougars at third singles with a 6-3 , 6-2 win .
Yu was up a set when play was stopped , while Vargas was battling in the third set . Whaanga had dropped his first set , but was ahead in the second .
UNG ’ s Zielen , Augusta ’ s Oliveira Named Men ’ s Tennis All-Americans
2016-17
TEMPE , ARIZ – North Georgia ’ s Niklas Zielen and Augusta ’ s Patrick Oliveira were named All-Americans as the Intercollegiate Tennis Association ( ITA ) released its final rankings of the season . Both players earned their All-America status after being ranked among the top 20 singles players in the nation in the final ITA poll .
The Nighthawk men finished the year ranked No . 12 nationally after posting a 19-5 record and earning their fifth NCAA appearance in the last six seasons .
Zielen was 17-4 overall and 8-2 in PBC play in singles for the Nighthawks as he became the first North Georgia tennis player to be named the Peach Belt Conference Player of the Year .
A sophomore from Frankfurt , Germany , Zielen was 5-1 against nationally-ranked opponents . He finished the season ranked No . 18 in the final NCAA Division II singles rankings .
Zielen becomes the first UNG singles All-American since Felipe Friedrich in 2013 .
From Rio de Janeiro , Brazil , Oliveira was ranked as high as No . 12 in the nation and was No . 3 in the region during the regular season . He was named first team Peach Belt All-Conference and PBC All-Academic , while compiling a 14-3 overall record at No . 1 singles to lead the Jaguars in wins and winning percentage .
Oliveira ended the season on an 8-2 run at No . 1 singles and went 7-3 in PBC play . He helped the team earn a top 50 national ranking in November 2016 .
YHC ’ s Quevedo named to CoSIDA Division II Academic All-America Team
AUSTIN , Texas | Young Harris College men ’ s tennis player Raul Quevedo as been named to the Academic All-America ® Division II Men ’ s At-Large Second Team as selected by CoSIDA ( College Sports Information Directors of America ).
Quevedo is the 18th Mountain Lion since 2011 to be named to a CoSIDA Academic All-America ® team . Quevedo , who is the first YHC tennis player to be named to CoSIDA Academic All-America ® team , is the third Mountain Lion to earn the honor this year , joining men ’ s soccer ’ s Ramin Varnhorn , men ’ s basketball ’ s C . J . Wilson and softball ’ s Jeanie Perrucci . Both Varnhorn and Wilson were named to third team on each of their program ’ s Academic All-America ® squad , while Perrucci was selected to the first team .
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