Courtesy of Wayne State Media Relations
ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. -- The Wayne State University men's tennis team (26-4 overall) defeated No. 1-Columbus State (22-3 overall) in thrilling fashion on Saturday afternoon to advance to the NCAA National Championship. Niklas Karcz (Bottrop, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany) provided the Warriors with the winning point, as he won a three-set battle. WSU upended the Cougars 4-3.
Karcz trailed 4-1 in the third set of his match, but collected himself and worked it to a tiebreaker. In the tiebreaker, Karcz took control and collected a 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (3) victory. The Green and Gold will take on Barry tomorrow afternoon at 10 AM in the NCAA Division II National Championship.
DOUBLES
The Warriors battled in doubles, but ultimately dropped the point. Ben Lakeman (Penzance Cornwall, England) and Karcz dropped their match at No. 3 doubles, 3-6.
Luke Laws (Sunderland, England) and Dom Spicer (London, England) tied things up in doubles, with a 6-4 victory at the No. 2 spot.
Cedric Drenth (Sulzbach, Germany) and Daniel Grey (Wiesbaden, Germany) played an intense match that went to a tiebreak. However, the duo fell, 6-7 (3).
SINGLES
Laws quickly evened the match at 1-1 with an impressive 6-4, 6-4 victory at No. 6 singles.
But the Cougars responded with a win at No. 2, as Lakeman was upended, 4-6, 3-6. That put CSU in front 2-1.
Spicer played a gutsy match at the top spot of the lineup, and ended up defeating the No. 1 ranked player in the country in straight sets. Spicer earned a 6-4, 6-4 win. Spicer's opponent, Alvaro Regalado, had dropped just seven sets all season coming into today's match.
Grey put the Warriors in front 3-2, with a comeback win at No. 4. After splitting the first two sets, Grey trailed 3-0 early in the deciding set. But he worked his way back into the match and collected a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 win.
