ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — It's so sweet.
With the opportunity to advance to the Sweet Sixteen within a point's reach,
Luisa Hrda sent her second serve attempt over the net and watched the return go wide left. She pumped her fist and shouted in excitement as
Anika Nissen and
Florencia Massardo Brain — who were the first two to win their singles' matches — stormed the court and embraced her as the match point secured second-seeded Flagler College's trip to the Sweet Sixteen with a 4-0 sweep over sixth-seeded Newberry College in the NCAA Southeast Regional match Saturday at the Flagler Tennis Center.
This marks the Saints' second straight trip to the Sweet Sixteen and first berth clinched on their home court. Each of No. 11 Flagler's first two regional home matches ended in 4-0 victories as the Saints topped Friday's sweep of the University of Mount Olive with another of the No. 19 Wolves (24-5).
The Saints (18-7) now advance to the 2022 NCAA Division II Tennis Championships in Altamonte Springs, Florida, May 17-21.
The opening trio of doubles point was quickly taken by Flagler. The second doubles team of
Alessandra Traub and Nissen won their match, 6-1, in 24 minutes and just a couple of minutes later, the No. 8 duo of Hrda and
Eden Schlagenhauf posted a 6-1 victory to give Flagler an 1-0 lead. The ensuing singles matches saw the Saints either in control or in contention on all six courts.
Massardo Brain rose to the occasion this afternoon, winning 6-1 and 6-2 against the Wolves' Rosie Hatfield on court five. With a 2-0 lead,
Anika Nissen closed out the match on court four, winning the first set 6-2, and then serving her opponent, Lucy Spice, a bagel with a 6-0 result for her 21st win in a row.
With a 3-0 lead, and a 5-2 lead in the second set, No. 5 Hrda watched Nissen clinch her match and knew it was her turn to finish. Hrda held serve to come away with her sixth win against a nationally-ranked foe — and her 11th straight win — over No. 18 Zulay Castaneda.
Even though they didn't finish because of the clinch, Schlagenhauf was up a set on court two. She won the first set, 7-5, after battling back from down 1-4 in the first set. On court three,
Alessandra Traub was up 6-4, 2-1, and court six was in a third set with
Addison Skye Breunich dropped set one 6-2, but won the second set 6-3.
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