The eighth-ranked Columbia men’s tennis team earned its second 7-0 sweep of the weekend by defeating 67th-ranked Penn State on Sunday afternoon inside the Philip and Cheryl Milstein Family Tennis Center.
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With two dominant 7-0 victories this weekend, Columbia improves to 8-3 overall. The Lions have now won three straight matches with three matches remaining until the start of the Ivy League slate on March 29 against Cornell.
Columbia cruised through doubles with wins in the two and three matches to secure the doubles point. Hugo Hashimoto and Jayden Templeman posted a 6-2 win over Reiya Hattori and Marcus Schoeman in the No. 3 spot for the first doubles win. Max Westphal and Sachin Palta clinched the doubles point for the Lions with a 6-1 win against Sam Bossem and Loren Byers in the No. 2 spot.
The Lions didn’t let up heading into singles as Columbia captured five singles victories in straight sets. No. 1 Michael Zheng, No. 36 Nicolas Kotzen, No. 50 Hashimoto, No. 116 Westphal and Thanaphat Boosarawongse cruised to victories in just two sets to help push Columbia toward the sweep.
Palta battled back after losing the first set to force a 10-point third set tiebreaker in lieu of playing the entire third set. Palta prevailed to earn a 3-6, 6-1, 1-0 (10-4) victory over Hattori in the No. 5 spot to help the Lions preserve the 7-0 sweep.
RESULTS
#8 Columbia 7, #67 Penn State 0
Doubles
1. #48 Michael Zheng/Nicolas Kotzen (COL) vs. Charl Morgan/David Lindsay (PSU) 5-2, unfinished
2. Max Westphal/Sachin Palta (COL) def. Sam Bossem/Loren Byers (PSU) 6-1
3. Hugo Hashimoto/Jayden Templeman (COL) def. Reiya Hattori/Marcus Schoeman (PSU) 6-2
Singles
1. #1 Michael Zheng (COL) def. Loren Byers (PSU) 6-3, 6-2
2. #36 Nicolas Kotzen (COL) def. Charl Morgan (PSU) 6-0, 6-1
3. #50 Hugo Hashimoto (COL) def. Sam Bossem (PSU) 6-1, 6-3
4. #116 Max Westphal (COL) def. Marcus Schoeman (PSU) 6-2, 6-3
5. Sachin Palta (COL) def. Reiya Hattori (PSU) 3-6, 6-1, 1-0 (10-4)
6. Thanaphat Boosarawongse (COL) def. David Lindsay (PSU) 6-1, 6-2
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (1,2,6,3,4,5)
UP NEXT
Columbia returns to action next Saturday, March 8 to host Delaware. First serve from the Milstein Family Tennis Center is set for 3 p.m.
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