ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – Can the
Jonas Piibor era get off to any better start?
Under his leadership, the 13th-ranked Flagler College men's tennis team captured the first regular-season Peach Belt Conference title in program history, defeating No. 14 Lander University, 4-2, at the Flagler Tennis Center Tuesday afternoon.
"Great day for everyone associated with Flagler," Flagler head coach
Jonas Piibor said. "Very proud of the team for embracing the pressure today. I give Lander a lot of credit as they played very tough. I'm very happy for our seniors Christian (Duran) and Oscar (Del Granado) to go out on their last regular-season match and be a part of this historic moment.
"I would also like to thank all of our great athletic staff, faculty, alumni, friends of the program, my co-coach Brian Washburn and the of course the team to make this possible. I also know that this team is not satisfied as we have still have our goals in front of us. We are looking forward to the PBC Tournament this weekend."
The now PBC champions finish the regular season with a 15-4 record and an unblemished PBC record of 6-0. The undefeated PBC season is also a first for the program in the Division II era. The Bearcats conclude the season with a 15-4 record as well, and an even 3-3 in the Peach Belt Conference.
For the first time since March 3, against Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the Saints dropped the opening doubles point. The Bearcats claimed second and third doubles to secure the 1-0 lead. The Saints won at first singles, with recently announced PBC Player of the Week
Philipp Lemken and
Oscar Del Granado dispatching No. 48 Matthew De Groot and Markus Sorensen 6-2, for the team's fourth win against a nationally-ranked duo.
In-between doubles and singles play, the team took a moment to honor the two seniors, Del Granado and
Christian Duran.
No. 37
Nikita Tatyanin started singles play off in favor of the Saints, notching his 15th win of the season with a 6-2, 6-1. No. 57
Oscar Del Granado came out with a 6-2, 6-3 victory at first singles to make the score 2-1.
Jacopo Denitto moved the team one point closer to the title, coming away with his 13th victory of the year, winning 6-4, 6-2.
The Bearcats closed the gap to 3-2 with a win at fifth singles, leaving all eyes on third and fourth singles,
Petr Cervinka and Lemken, respectively.
Lemken battled back to force a third set in similar fashion to his Columbus State performance, but Cervinka was the hero today, taking control in the second set tiebreaker to win the match, 6-2, 7-6 (2), while making program history.
The Saints now enter the
PBC Championships as the No. 1 seed, and will await the winner of the first-round match between Lander and Augusta University. The winner will meet Flagler on Saturday, April 30 (4 p.m.) at the John W. Walden Tennis Center on the campus of Columbus State.
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