COLUMBUS, Ga. - The No. 3-ranked (ITA Division II Top 50) Flagler College men's tennis team fell in the Peach Belt Conference Tournament Championship against No. 4 Columbus State University, 4-2, this afternoon at the John W. Walden Tennis Center.
After the conclusion of the match, the doubles team of
Ilian Borlee and
Simon Malis was named the tournament MVP in doubles play. Borlee and Malis went undefeated at the No. 1 spot, defeating No. 24 Andrea Sandrone and Elias Peter 6-3 and defeating Ben Brandl and Joao Luis Silva of University of North Georgia 6-3. Borlee and Malis were the only doubles pair to capture a win against the Cougars. As a team, Borlee and Malis are undefeated on the season, winning their past eight matches together and going unfinished in two.
Flagler finished conference play with a 14-4 overall record and 7-2 against conference opponents. The Saints will wait till next week to see if and where they are placed for the NCAA Tournament. The Cougars moved up to 19-2 overall and earned an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.
In singles the match was played to clinch. Prior to the finish, No. 54
Raphael Rousson was nearing the conclusion of his three set match where him and Sandrone were tied 6-2, 5-7 and 6-6. No. 19 Malis remained undefeated on the day, taking down No. 37 Hugo Didier in two 6-1 sets. This is Malis' eighth consecutive singles win. No. 14 Borlee also finished undefeated as he won his match 4-6, 6-2 and 6-0 against Yike Liu.
