2017-18 PBC YEARBOOK
Men’s Tennis
COLUMBUS STATE CLAIMS PBC MEN’S TENNIS TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP
FLORENCE, SC – Following a dominant performance in doubles, the top-seeded Columbus State
Cougars defeated second-seeded Lander 5-0 to win the 2018 PBC men’s tennis tournament on
Sunday in Florence. The tournament title is the second straight for the Cougars and third in the last
five years.
Ranked #3 in the nation by the ITA, the Cougars improve to 21-3 overall on the season. Lander,
ranked #4 in the nation, falls to 20-2 overall, both losses coming to CSU.
The Cougars jumped out early in doubles. The #2 doubles team of KP Pannu and Matei Avram
blitzed Lander’s Eirik Groner and Ozan Cildir 8-1. CSU’s #1 team of Zach Whaanga and Alvaro
Regalado then beat Lander’s Alexander Regner and David Korsten 8-3 and the sweep was completed
at #3 as Jorge Vargas and Arnold Kokulewski beat LU’s Phillipe Courteau and Gabriel Couto 8-4.
The Cougars needed only add two points from the six subsequent singles matches and found them
at #1 and #5. In the fifth spot, Avram took down Regner 6-2, 6-1. Pannu finished the championship
at #1 singles with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Groner.
Whaanga and Regalaldo, the ninth-ranked doubles team in the country, were named the tournament
doubles MVPs. The duo went a combined 3-0 at #1 doubles over the weekend.
KP Pannu, the 2018 PBC Player of the Year and #2-ranked singles player in the nation, was named
the singles MVP. Pannu was 2-0 at the top spot in CSU’s three matches at the tournament.
* - Coverage of CSU’s National Championship can be found on page 12
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