ST. AUGUSTINE - The Flagler College men's tennis team defeated Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) No. 14 Florida Southern College 6-1 this afternoon at the Pollard tennis center to gain their first ranked win of the season.
Current No. 3 (ITA) Saints end the weekend off going 2-0 to start the season while the Mocs drop their season opener to move to 0-1. The Saints will compete at the
ITA Division II Men's Team Indoor Championship held at the University of Indianapolis from Feb. 13 to 15. The Saints opening match will be against current No. 9 Azusa Pacific University starting at 11 am.
Doubles play saw the Saints clinch two matches, resulting in their third to go unfinished.
Filip Kana and
Aly El Rafie started the day off with a 6-4 win over Mario Garoz and Matthew Hewitt.
Aniss Rafiq and
Ilian Borlee secured the final win of doubles with their 6-3 win over George Russell and Onur Turgut. Before the stoppage
Simon Malis and
Noah Paterson were up 5-4 against Gabriel Jornert and Bosko Boskovic.
In singles the Saints captured five of the six points. Freshman
Raphael Rousson continued his dominance at court six, defeating Youssef ElShafei 6-2 and 6-0. El Rafie followed close behind Rousson, also defeating his opponent, Mario A. Morales, 6-2 and 6-0. To clinch the victory, Rafiq defeated Turgut with two 6-2 sets. Completing their matches, No. 29 Borlee defeated Marco Cinotti 6-1 and 7-6 (7-4). Kana defeated Boskovic 7-6 (7-4) and 6-2 to end the day.
