SURPRISE, Ariz. - No. 4-ranked (ITA Division II Top 50) Flagler College upset No. 1-ranked University of West Florida 4-2 in a semifinal match at the NCAA Division II National Tournament this afternoon at the Surprise Tennis and Raquet Club.
This is the second time in three years Flagler (23-4) has advanced to the national title match and third time since being in the D2 era that it defeated the top-ranked team in the nation. Tomorrow the Saints will take on No. 2 and top-seed Barry University at 12 p.m. West Florida ended the season with a 28-2 record.
Doubles was a shootout across the first two courts, with the Saints emerging victorious on court three. Aniss Raifq and
Oliver Hradilek defeated Vicente Couto and Rafael Sabio 6-2 to give the Saints their only doubles win. Despite the loss, court one's No. 30
Simon Malis and
Ilian Borlee played the No. 1 doubles team in the nation, Diego Duran and Sebastian Rondon to a tight 7-6(7-4) match.
Aly El Rafie and
Filip Kana's loss to Mark Neyelov and Gonalo Quintela came down to a 7-5 match.
Singles saw two career upsets to seal the match. No. 14 Borlee earned his first win of the tournament after his previous two went unfinished. In his 6-3 and 6-0 match, Borlee defeated Couto. On court one, No. 17 Malis set a career and program milestone as the first Saint to defeat the No. 1 individually ranked singles player in Division II. Now boasting a 3-1 record on court one, Malis upset Sebastian Rondon 6-1 and 6-4. Hradilek gave Flagler it's first lead of the day after defeating Neyelov 7-5 and 6-0. To send the Saints marching, No. 35 Rafiq earned his highest ranked win of his career as he defeated No. 3 Duran, 3-6, 6-2 and 6-3. Rafiq is 3-1 against Top-10 opponents and is a five match win streak.
