AUGUSTA, Ga. – The No. 8 (ITA Division II rankings) Flagler College men's tennis team will open the Peach Belt Conference Championship as the No. 2 seed and will face No. 47 ranked, and No. 7 seed, Young Harris College, on Friday at noon. at the John W. Walden Tennis Center at Columbus, Georgia.

Flagler (14-5 overall, 5-1 in the PBC) is riding a four-match win streak. The Saints own a 6-1 win over the Mountain Lions from their match on April 2 at Young Harris, Georgia. Flagler is 9-1 all-time against Young Harris and have won nine in a row. The Saints have won both meetings in the conference tournament against the Mountain Lions with a 7-2 win in 2016 and a 5-1 decision in 2018, both at Florence, South Carolina.

In singles play, Nikita Tatyanin is ranked No.27 in the nation. He is 12-6 this spring and has played at No. 1 all season. Jacopo Denitto has played at No. 2 and is 10-6 this season. Petr Cervinka holds a 9-2 record at No. 3 while Philipp Lemken is 0-1 at No. 4. Nos. 5 and 6 are held down by Pavlos Parson (7-1) and Fernando Bulnes (9-3).

In doubles, the tandem of Tatyanin and Jagger Ong-Patzwald is ranked No. 39 nationally. They are 7-7 at No. 1 doubles this year. Lemken and Parson are 8-2 at No. 2 doubles while Cervinka and Denitto are 4-3 at No. 3 doubles.  

Young Harris (10-10, 0-6) has lost seven of its last eight matches, including the last three in a row. The doubles team of Chimo Minguez Ribera and Rodrigo Mendoza are 5-0 at No. 1.  

The winner of the match will advance to the semifinals on Saturday at 11 a.m. and will take on the winner of the Lander University-Georgia College & State University match.

Flagler is 6-13 all-time in the PBC Championship. The Saints advanced to the finals last year where they fell to Columbus State, 4-0.  

The winner of the championship will earn the league's automatic berth to the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional.

The PBC Championship first round matches are:

Friday, April 21
#2 Flagler vs. #7 Young Harris
#3 Lander vs. #6 GCSU
#4 North Georgia vs. No. 5 Augusta

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