No. 16 Vols Fall in a Heartbreaker to No. 18 Columbia

Sunday, January 26

Knoxville, TN

1 PM

University of Tennessee

#18 Columbia

Photo by: Andrew Ferguson/Tennessee Athletics

January 26, 2020 | Men's Tennis

Box Score Box Score

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – In the championship match of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend's Knoxville regional, the 16th-ranked Tennessee men's tennis team dropped a heartbreaker to No. 18 Columbia, 4-2, Sunday at the Goodfriend Tennis Center.

Columbia is the third ranked opponent UT has faced in its first seven matches this season. Head coach Chris Woodruff said the early season tests are important and will only help the team once it gets into SEC play.

"Making national indoors is great and unfortunately we won't be going but we've got to keep rolling," Woodruff said. "We can't look back, we have to keep looking forward and build on it. We'll get better. It is a process and right now it stings but it is a long season. We'll learn to handle this adversity and the guys will get it together and we'll be ready to play."

Tennessee (6-1) did not win the doubles point for the first time this season as Columbia won on courts one and three. Court two was the first one done as the Aussie duo of Scott Jones and Pat Harper defeated Alex Kotzen and Rian Pandole 6-3, giving UT the early advantage.

However, the Lions quickly evened things with a win on court three with Jason Lui and Adam Ambrozy winning out over UT's Mark Wallner and Adam Walton 6-4. The third-ranked duo of Jackie Tang and Jack Lin clinched the doubles point for Columbia with a 6-3 win over Andrew Rogers and Giles Hussey.

In singles, the Vols started fast as they won five of six first sets.

Court one saw a top 25 matchup between No. 23 Walton and Columbia's sixth-ranked Lin. Walton took the first set 6-4 before quickly dispatching Lin in the second, 6-2. The win is Walton's 13th against a ranked opponent in his career and the first against an opponent ranked in the top 10.

Walton's win knotted the match up at 1-1, but the Lions pulled back ahead with a win on court four. Luca Wiedenmann fell in a three-setter to No. 79 Kotzen 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, suffering his first loss of the season.

On five, Hussey scrapped out a victory for the Vols over Ambrozy 7-6 (7-3), 7-5, giving UT its second point of the match and tying it up at 2-2.

The remaining matches all went to three sets with Columbia winning tight battles on courts six and two to earn the win and advance to the ITA Indoor National Championships.

On six, Rogers fell to Austen Huang 6-4, 5-7, 4-6 while Jones dropped on two against No. 73 Tang 3-6, 6-2, 4-6. Tang's win clinched the match for the Lions.

Martim Prata was locked in on court five against Pandole in another three-set battle when the match was clinched. Prata had the advantage as he was up 6-2, 5-7, 5-4, but ultimately the match went unfinished.

UP NEXT

Tennessee will be back in action at home on Friday, Jan. 31 for a doubleheader against Georgia State and Mercer. The match against Georgia State will begin at noon with Mercer following at 4 p.m.