ST. AUGUSTINE – The No. 4-ranked (ITA Collegiate Rankings sponsored by Tennis Point) Flagler College men's tennis team will compete at the ITA Indoor National Championships this weekend (Feb. 17-19) at the University of Indianapolis Tennis Center.

This is the third in the program's history that they have participated in the indoor championships. In 2020, the Saints went 1-2 and posted the same record the following year in 2021. Both of those tournaments were held in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Flagler (1-0) opens the championships against No. 5 Wayne State University of Michigan (4-1). The Warriors have the No. 10-ranked singles player in Dom Spicer. He holds an 8-7 record this year, but is 0-2 in dual matches. Last year, Spicer was 24-11 in singles play and 17-9 in dual matches, which includes a 14-9 mark at No. 1 singles. The Warriors also boast of the No. 8-ranked doubles team in the country – Cedric Drenth and Daniel Grey. They have a 15-3 record this year and hold a 4-1 mark in duals.

The Saints do not have anyone nationally ranked, but Nikita Tatyanin (No. 12) and Pavlos Parson (No. 20) are ranked regionally. Flagler has three doubles teams ranked in the southeast region – Cedric Holzmann/Fernando Bulnes (No. 5), Philipp Lemken/Parson (No. 6), and Tatyanin/Jagger Ong-Patzwald (No. 9). Tatyanin is 9-2 in singles play this year while Parson is 8-4. Holzmann and Bulnes are 4-3 in doubles and the tandem of Lemken and Parson is 5-3. Tatyanin and Ong-Patwald hold a 3-3 record.

The other quarterfinal matches on Friday include: No. 2 Columbus State University vs. No. 10 Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University at 8 a.m.; No. 3 Saint Leo University vs. No. 9 Hawai'i Pacific University at 11 a.m.; No. 1 Barry University vs. No. 7 University of Indianapolis at 2:30 p.m. Teams are seeded 1-8 for the tournament. The number before each team is the national ranking.

The winners of the quarterfinals will meet in the semifinals on Saturday at 11 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. The losers will drop into the consolation round and play at 8 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. The championship match is Sunday at 2:30 p.m.

Live video and results can be found at the ITA's website at wearecollegetennis.com and choose the "Events" dropdown on the header and select DII National Men's Indoors.
 
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