ST. AUGUSTINE – The No. 4 (ITA Division II Top 50) Flagler College men’s tennis team pushed past No. 31 Belmont Abbey College, 4-2, to advance in the NCAA Division II preliminary round this morning at the Pollard Tennis Center.
The Saints improved to 20-2 overall. This is the 21st time in the program’s history that the Saints have won 20 or more matches in one season. No. 8-seed Belmont Abbey finishes its season with a 22-17 record. The Saints will continue to make their way towards the national tournament field as they take on No. 19 Columbus State University at 3 p.m.
In doubles, the Saints were slow to get moving as they were only able to pull out one win. The only ranked pair for the Saints, No. 19 Ilian Borlee and Simon Malis, defeated Charlie Fremaux and Issac Buerkle 6-4.
The Saints regained their footing in singles, with No. 31 Malis taking the first win. Against Fremaux, Malis won in straight sets 6-4 and 6-1. To give the Saints the lead, Makary Adamek rolled over Tim Stemler. Adamek swept Stemler in both sets, 6-0. Adding to the comeback, Borlee defeated Peru Bayo 6-4 and 6-2. The finishing blow was dealt by Filip Kana against Nicholas Cary in three sets. Kana took set one 6-2 but dropped a close 7-5 second. Bouncing back, Kana took set three 6-2 to clinch the match against the Crusaders.
ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – No. 19 and fourth-seeded Columbus State men’s tennis advanced in the NCAA Southeast Regional with a 4-1 victory over No. 29 and fifth-seeded Lincoln Memorial (Tenn.) on Friday afternoon at the Pollard Tennis Center in St. Augustine, Fla.
Despite dropping the doubles point, the Cougars (12-10) rebounded with a dominant singles performance, winning four straight matches to secure the win over the Railsplitters (22-5).
In doubles play, CSU’s top duo of Andrea Sandrone and Elias Peter delivered a convincing 6-1 win at the first line. However, Lincoln Memorial claimed victories at lines two and three to take the early lead.
Columbus State responded swiftly in singles. Samer Al Tori evened the match with a 6-2, 6-3 win at the second line. Yike Liu followed with a 6-4, 6-3 victory in sixth position, giving the Cougars a 2-1 advantage.
Sandrone extended the lead with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 triumph in the third position. Camilo Cano clinched the match at court one, rallying for a 1-6, 6-3, 6-0 win. The remaining singles matches at the fourth and fifth lines were left unfinished.
Next Up
Columbus State advances to face Flagler (Fla.) tomorrow at 3 p.m. ET.
SALISBURY, NC — Robin Eldin rallied from a first-set tiebreak loss to win the next two and clinch the final point in the North Georgia’s 4-3 upset win over third-seeded Wingate in the NCAA Southeast Regional on Friday in Salisbury. UNG, the sixth seed in the tournament, advances to face host Catawba on Saturday at 3:30 pm.
Playing at second singles, Eldin fell in the first set on a tiebreak 6-7 (7-9), but stormed back to take the second set 6-4. As the third set went on, other matches came to a close, leaving the score tied at 3-3. Eldin carried the load, beating Wingate’s Carlo Rosellini 6-2 in the third to send the Nighthawks to the next round.
North Georgia began the match by winning the doubles point as Pedro Liborio and Janos Varga beat Wingate’s Martina Colabella and Gabriel Constantino 6-1 at second doubles. Marcos Castellanos and Franco Rebora then beat Wingate’s Federicko Spinetta and Florian Walcher 6-3 at third doubles to secure the point.
In singles, UNG’s Juan Cruz Blanco Cauterucci needed just over an hour to best Spinetta 6-3, 6-4 to put the Nightawks up 2-0. North Georgia got a third point at #1 singles where Liborio beat Constantino 6-2, 6-1.
Wingate answered with a win at third singles in straight sets, leaving the score 3-1 with three matches going. The Bulldogs got points at sixth singles and third singles in three-set matches, leaving Eldin to claim the clincher.
SALISBURY, N.C. – The No. 23 Lander men’s tennis team saw its season come to an end Friday with a 4-1 loss to No. 8 Catawba in the opening round of the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional, hosted by Catawba College.
The Bearcats, seeded No. 7 in the region, dropped the doubles point after falling at the No. 1 and No. 3 positions. Lander led 6-5 at No. 2 doubles before the match was abandoned following the clinch.
Brendan Jayaprakash earned the lone point for Lander in singles play with a straight-set victory at No. 6 (6-4, 6-3). Catawba, the No. 2 seed in the region, secured the win with singles victories at the No. 1, No. 4, and No. 5 spots.
Despite the loss, Lander finishes the year with a 12-8 overall record and a No. 23 national ranking. This marks the Bearcats’ 19th consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament, a streak that continues to reflect the program’s tradition of excellence on the court.
