DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The third weekend of September marked Jonas Piibor's first glance of his Flagler College men's tennis team in competition. 
 
Since being hired as the fourth head coach in the program's 47-year history on August 3rd, Piibor has been locked into learning the ins and outs of his new squad while instilling his passion for the sport and the expectations for the new era of Flagler men's tennis.
 
"Super excited to be here — I'm very excited for the team," Piibor said. "We have a pretty large roster and a lot of new guys here. We have a fairly young team and I'm very young here. My vision for this team is to get better each day and how we go about the process every day that I think will be beneficial for us in the short term and the long term. I'm working on implementing a system here that I believe is going to work really well. 
 
"Right now, getting to know the student-athletes one-on-one and in a group setting are really important things for me this fall and approaching the springtime. Every day, building relationships and teaching them how I believe is the right way to do things. It's been very busy but very exciting for the future."
 
This past weekend, Piibor was able to add more stepping stones to his first months at the helm as he traveled to Daytona Beach to see the Saints compete for the first time. Five returners — Nikita Tatyanin, Philipp Lemken, Cedric Holzmann, Diego Amilibia and Max Berner — and three newcomers — Oscar Del Granado, Jacopo Denitto and Gabriel Korylco-Bowers — represented Flagler on the courts in the Saints' first tournament of the season. 
 
Overall, Flagler went 19-3 in singles as Amilibia, Berner, Denitto, Holzmann and Tatyanin all finished with 3-0 records, while Del Granado was 2-0 and Lemken and Korylco-Bowers each had one win. In doubles, the Saints are still working on groupings as they finished at 5-6 with the duo of Del Granado/Lemken picking up a team-high two wins.
 
"It was a very productive weekend," Piibor said. "We got a lot of match play in and had some areas we were good, and also some we need to improve in. Overall, it was a good weekend and we are looking forward to the ITA Southeast Regional."
 
Of the eight Saints who competed in the fall season-opening weekend, Del Granado, Lemken, Holzmann and Tatyanin will move on to play in the ITA Southeast Regional this Friday (tomorrow) through Monday in Sumter, S.C.
 
It'll be another nurturing opportunity for Piibor to build on as the fall season continues and the first-year coach earns the trust from his players.
 
"It's about teaching, showing, visualizing, verbalizing and explaining to them and using their experience and my experience to show a clear path about what we are going to do and why we are doing certain things," Piibor said. "That's something I'm really paying attention to and those details and explaining what I want from them and why it is beneficial. 
 
"The team understands what I'm telling them and implementing those things in practice and on and off the court. That process is an on-going process, but I feel so far, I'm very pleased with what we have accomplished and in a daily process. It's early on but we are on the right track and we'll continue to make sure we are on the right track."
 
It's why the fall is so important for not only Piibor in his first months in a new place with a new team but the student-athletes who picked Flagler as their next home. These months of competition, leading up to the competitive stretch of spring matches begins the mindset of what this Flagler men's tennis team will entail and represent. 
 
Those important necessities come in the fall, where the returners and newcomers can come together and create a morale that will develop and flow into the spring. It's a process that Piibor knows begins now, and one he's invested in creating on and off the court, to get the new era off on the right foot.
 
"The fall is super important — to me, that's when you lay the groundwork and foundation for the spring," he said. "Every day counts, every rep counts and to be able to get a good system here is challenging since it is my first year here, but I'm doing my best to familiarize myself with how it works from scheduling classes to advising and so forth. 
 
"We train very efficiently, and are making sure we train very wisely and building them up physically and mentally to get ready for the spring."

Tennis Tournament Results
ERAU Open
Sep 17-19, 2021 at Daytona Beach, Fla (Crotty Tennis Complex)

Singles competition
Gold Flight
Philipp Lemken (Flagler) def. Mikhar Fischer (Eastern Florida State College) 6-2, 6-2
Nikita Tatyanin (Flagler) def. Alexis Geudy (Embry-Riddle) 4-6, 6-3, 10-5
Oscar Del Granado (Flagler) def. Alvaro Diaz (Embry-Riddle) 6-1, 6-2
Nikita Tatyanin (Flagler) def. Luc Camps Pasqual (Eastern Florida State College) 6-1, 6-0
Juan Couder (Embry-Riddle) def. Philipp Lemken (Flagler) 6-1, 6-2
Nikita Tatyanin (Flagler) def. Tim Loerwink (Embry-Riddle) 6-1, 6-1
Oscar Del Granado (Flagler) def. Luc Camps Pasqual (Eastern Florida State College) 6-2, 6-4 
Philipp Lemken (Flagler) def. Alvaro Diaz (Embry-Riddle) 6-3, 2-6, 11-9
Oscar Del Granado (Flagler) def. Ramiro Rincon (Eastern Florida State College) 4-2

Blue Flight
Jacopo Denitto (Flagler) def. Pol Fontdegloria (Embry-Riddle) 6-3, 6-2
Max Berner (Flagler) def. Luke Paschal (Embry-Riddle) 4-6, 6-4, 10-6
Diego Amilibia (Flagler) def. Yoav Nir (Embry-Riddle) 6-4, 6-3
Cedric Holzmann (Flagler) def. Bernardo Vieira (Eastern Florida State College) 6-4, 6-2
Diego Amilibia (Flagler) def. Pol Fontdegloria (Embry-Riddle) 6-4, 6-1
Jacopo Denitto (Flagler) def. Yoav Nir (Embry-Riddle) 6-1, 6-3
Cedric Holzmann (Flagler) def. Fernando Alonso (Embry-Riddle) 5-7, 6-3, 10-2
Max Berner (Flagler) vs. Bernardo Vieira (Eastern Florida State College) no result
Cedric Holzmann (Flagler) def. Pol Fontdegloria (Embry-Riddle) 6-2, 6-4
Jacopo Denitto (Flagler) def. Luke Paschal (Embry-Riddle) 6-3, 6-4
Max Berner (Flagler) def. Fernando Alonso (Embry-Riddle)  6-4, 6-0
Diego Amilibia (Flagler) def. Jaewoo Choi (Eastern Florida State College) 3-6, 7-6 (5-0), 10-3 
White Flight
Lucas Gonzalez (Eastern Florida State College) def. Gab. Korylco-Bowers (Flagler) 6-2, 6-0 
Bernardo Gandara (Eastern Florida State College) def. Gab. Korylco-Bowers (Flagler) 6-3, 6-1 
Gab. Korylco-Bowers (Flagler) def. Phillip Katta (Embry-Riddle) 6-2, 1-6, 10-5



Doubles competition
Juan Couder/Alexis Geudy (Embry-Riddle) def. Cedric Holzmann/Jacopo Denitto (Flagler) 8-3
Philipp Lemken/Oscar Del Granado (Flagler) def. Pol Fontdegloria/Yoav Nir (Embry-Riddle) 8-4
Max Berner/Gab. Korylco-Bowers (Flagler) def. Maciej Sobolewski/Jordi Couple (Embry-Riddle) 8-3
Nikita Tatyanin/Diego Amilibia (Flagler) def. Jaewoo Choi/Luc Camps Pasqual (Eastern Florida State College) 8-3
Juan Couder/Alexis Geudy (Embry-Riddle) def. Oscar Del Granado/Philipp Lemken (Flagler) 8-4
Alvaro Diaz/Fernando Alonso (Embry-Riddle) def. Nikita Tatyanin/Diego Amilibia (Flagler) 8-7 (4-0)
Yoav Nir/Pol Fontdegloria (Embry-Riddle) def. Max Berner/Gab. Korylco-Bowers (Flagler) 8-2
Cedric Holzmann/Jacopo Denitto (Flagler) def. Mikhar Fischer/Bernardo Gandara (Eastern Florida State College) 8-0 
Juan Couder/Alexis Geudy (Embry-Riddle) def. Nikita Tatyanin/Diego Amilibia (Flagler) 8-1
Tim Loerwink/Luke Paschal (Embry-Riddle) def. Cedric Holzmann/Jacopo Denitto (Flagler) 8-7 (5-0)
Oscar Del Granado/Philipp Lemken (Flagler) def. Fernando Alonso/Alvaro Diaz (Embry-Riddle) 8-2

 
Be the first to know what's going on with the Saints -- Follow @FlaglerSports on Twitter, follow FlaglerSports on Instagram, become a fan of Flagler College Athletics on Facebook and subscribe to the Flagler College Athletics e-newsletter to receive the latest news, schedule updates and to interact with Flagler Athletics.