ST. AUGUSTINE - The No.-4 ranked (ITA Division II Top 50) Flagler College men's tennis team suffered a heartbreaking 4-2 loss to No. 19 Columbus State University in the NCAA Division II National Tournament preliminary round this afternoon at the Pollard Tennis Center.
The Saints end their season at 20-3Â while the Cougars improved to 13-10. Columbus State will play in the Round of 16, which starts May 20 at Altamonte Springs, Florida.
Doubles was a back and forth battle with the Cougars ultimately winning two of the three matches.
Baptiste Mercier and
Aly El Rafie were the lone winners, defeating Camilo Cano and Samer Al Tori 6-3. Split down the center, the deciding match came down to
Makary Adamek and
Filip Kana versus Benedek Szombathelyi and Yike Liu. Exhanging points evenly until the end, the match went into a 6-6 tie break with Szombathelyi and Liu edging out the Saints 7-6 (7-5).
In singles, the Saints rally fell short. Going down 3-0 at one point,
Aly El Rafie was the first Saint to break through. Defeating Liu 6-2 and 6-3, the Saints trailed 3-1.
Ilian Borlee followed close behind in his tight three-set match against Andrea Sandrone. Exchanging 6-3 sets, Borlee put the Saints in position to tie with a 6-2 second set, as the Saints got closer, down 3-2. Elias Peter clinched the match for the Cougars with a 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 win over
Filip Kana. Prior to the stoppage, No. 31
Simon Malis was in his third set against No. 71 Al Tori with the score tied 3-3.
