Burt Interview

If there is a big, heavy door separating the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference's top four men's tennis teams from the rest of the league, the Colorado College men certainly knocked really loud during Friday night's quarterfinals loss.
 
“Definitely,” said CC No. 1 singles player Nate Burt. “We have always lost badly to Sewanee in the past. Tonight we had a lot of chances to pull out some wins.”
 
Although the sixth-seeded Tigers fell 7-2 to No. 3 Sewanee, CC was more competitive in years past and showed the rest of the field, especially the pack at seeds 5-8 that they will be a tough opponent Saturday in the losers' bracket. CC certainly looked strong in an earlier 7-2 first-round win over Austin College.
 
Burt was instrumental in Friday's good showing. He and No. 1 doubles partner Lionel Zen-Ruffinen were down 3-0 but rallied from behind to take the lead for good at 4-3 in their 9-8 (8-6) pro-set win over Sewanee's Levi Joy and Grant Hopkins. The gut-check win was an example of how far the men have come, Burt said.
 
Unfortunately for the Tigers, they could not ride that momentum into much success in the later singles competition. Only sophomore Oliver Gunter prevailed at No. 6 singles.
 
With the loss, CC takes on seventh seed Oglethorpe at 10 a.m. Mountain on Saturday. The winner advances to play for fifth place on Sunday morning while the loser will try for seventh.
 
CC defeated Oglethorpe for the first time earlier this season giving the inexperienced Tigers – Burt is the only senior – plenty of confidence headed into the dual meet.
 
“It is really close between seeds four and eight,” Burt said. “If we step it up in singles, we can beat anyone in that group.”
 

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Results
 
Quarterfinals
No. 3 Sewanee 7, No. 6 Colorado College 2
 
Singles Competition
1. SEW – Rand Jackson def. Nate Burt  6-3, 6-2
2. SEW – Aaron Cotton def. Will Lindsay 6-1, 6-2
3. SEW – Levi Joy def. Lionel Zen-Ruffinen 6-3, 6-1
4. SEW – Alex Cooper def. Robert Kasemodel 6-1, 6-1
5. SEW - Grant Hopkins def. Jack Burger 7-5, 7-6 (5)
6. CC - Oliver Gunter def. David Human 6-2, 6-2
 
Doubles Competition
1. CC – Nate Burt/Lionel Zen-Ruffinen def. Levi Joy/Grant Hopkins 9-8 (6)
2. SEW – Alex Cooper/Rand Jackson def. Will Lindsay/Jack Burger 8-2
3. SEW – David Human/Aaron Cotton def. Zach White/Robert Kasemodel 8-5
 
First round
No. 6 seed Colorado College 7, No. 11 Austin College 2
 
Singles Competition
1. AC – Tyler Roush def. Nate Burt 0-6, 7-6 (5), 10-8
2. CC -  Will Lindsay def. James Taylor 6-1, 6-2
3. CC – Lionel Zen-Ruffinen def. Tarun Palapati 6-0, 6-0
4. CC – Robert Kasemodel def. Spencer Gander 6-0, 6-0
5. CC – Jack Burger def.  Jack Kunde 6-2, 6-2
6. AC – Sanyal Patel def. Zach White 6-2, 6-4
 
Doubles Competition
1. CC - Nate Burt/Lionel Zen-Ruffinen def. James Taylor/Tarun Palapati 8-1
2. CC – Will Lindsay/Jack Burger def. Tyler Roush/Sanyal Patel 8-4
3. CC – Zach White/Robert Kasemodel def. Jack Kunde/Spencer Gander 8-2