INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The No. 2-ranked (ITA Division II) Flagler College men's tennis team earned the Peach Belt Conference automatic berth to the NCAA Division II Men's Tennis Championship and will host Southeast Region No. 1 at the Pollard Tennis Center. The tournament will be held Monday and Tuesday (May 13-14) with the winner advancing to the NCAA Division II National Championship, May 20-25, at Sanlando Park in Altamonte Springs, Florida.

Flagler, the No. 1 seed in the preliminary round, will take on the No. 8 seed, University of Mount Olive, on Monday at 11 a.m. The winner will advance to take on the winner of the other match Monday between No. 5 Wingate University and No. 4 seed Lander University on Tuesday at 11 a.m.
 
Flagler (17-2) is making its eighth appearance in the NCAA Division II Tournament, and its third in a row. The Saints are 8-5 all-time in preliminary round play.

Leading the Saints are pair of singles players who have had outstanding seasons so far. Baptiste Mercier is ranked No. 10 and Jacopo Denitto is No. 19 in the latest ITA rankings. Mercier, the PBC Co-Player of the Year, holds a 30-9 record in singles this year and is 15-3 this spring. He is 2-2 against nationally-ranked competition. This past fall, Mercier advanced to the ITA Southeast Regional final and went on to win the ITA Cup, which was the first a Flagler player has done that in the NCAA Division II era. He earned first team all-conference honors in both singles and doubles. Denitto earned first team all-conference accolades in singles as he holds a 21-16 overall record, which includes an 11-7 mark this semester. He is 3-2 against nationally-ranked opposition.

Simon Malis, the PBC's Freshman of the Year, has played No. 3 singles this season and has a 13-3 record, but is 20-7 overall. He received second team all-conference honors in singles and was first team in doubles. Two players have split No. 4 this season – Ilian Borlee (6-0) and Philipp Lemken (6-3). Both were selected to the all-conference second team. Borlee holds a 26-4 overall record and has been nearly flawless this spring with a 15-1 mark. He is riding a 13-match win streak. Lemken has been equally dominant with a 24-7 overall record and a 14-3 dual mark. He also holds an 8-0 record at No. 5 singles and has an 11-match win streak. Four different players have played No. 6 singles with an overall record of 12-3.   

Flagler has a pair of nationally-ranked doubles teams. Borlee and Mercier come in at No. 29 while Lemken and Malis are at No. 37. Both tandems were first team all-conference duos. Borlee and Mercier hold a 13-2 record and are 3-1 against nationally-ranked opponents. Lemken and Malis are 12-2 and have won 11 matches in a row. Max Berner and Jacopo Denitto are 7-6 at No. 3 doubles.

Mount Olive (17-5) is ranked No. 28 in the country and received the last at-large berth. The Trojans are making their eighth appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

Kristoffer Dalbak was selected as the Conference Carolinas Freshman of the Year and he was named to the all-conference second team. Guilherme Zotin de Oliveira earned first team all-conference accolades while Bram Poel took home third team honors.

Lander is ranked No. 22 and has a 12-5 overall record. Hugo Regner is ranked No. 61 and he earned first team all-conference honors. He holds a 14-2 record this season and is riding a five-match winning streak. Ambroise Marchand was a second team selection and is 12-4 this spring. Regner and Matthew De Groot earned first team all-conference doubles accolades while Markus Sorensen and Nick Beamish took home second team honors. Regner and De Groot hold a 9-6 record while Sorensen and Beamish are 4-3.

Wingate comes in with a No. 12 ranking and a 17-5 overall record. The Bulldogs won the South Atlantic Conference regular-season and tournament titles. Wingate put three singles players on the All-SAC first team – Gabriel Constantino, Florian Walcher, and Carlo Rosellini. Constantino holds a 13-8 record at No. 1, Rosellini is 13-8 at No. 2, and Walcher is 18-2 at No. 3. Hugo Nossler and Edis Nokic garnered third team honors. Nossler is 15-3 this spring, including a 9-1 mark at No. 4. Nokic is 14-5 and holds a 5-0 mark at No. 6. Luka Brown and Nossler are ranked No. 19 while Constantino and Nokic are ranked No. 50. Brown and Nossler are 15-1 this season and have won 13 matches in a row. Constantino and Nokic are17-4 and have reeled off 11 wins in row. Both duos earned first team all-conference honors.    

Southeast Region No. 1 schedule

Monday, May 13
11 a.m. - #8 Mount Olive at #1 Flagler
3 p.m. - #5 Wingate vs. #4 Lander

Tuesday, May 14
11 a.m. – winner match #1 vs. winner match #2

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