SURPRISE, Ariz. – The Flagler College men's tennis team won the program's third national title, but the first NCAA one, with a hard-fought 4-3 victory over previously undefeated Barry University Sunday afternoon at the Surprise Tennis & Racquet Complex.
Flagler won NAIA titles in 1977 and 1986. The Saints were the national runners-up in 2024 in their first NCAA D2 national title match.
"It's an unbelievable feeling," said head coach
Jonas Piibor. "All of the credit goes to the team as they deserve to be awarded for the hard work they put in every day. As a coaching staff, we have challenged them about being willing to put in more work and endure more pain in order to achieve this."
Flagler, ranked No. 4 (ITA Division II Top 50) in the nation and the No. 6 seed at the tournament, finished the season with a 24-4 record while Barry, ranked No. 2 in the nation and the No. 1-seed at the tournament, fell to 25-1. The Saints also snapped a 23-match losing streak to the Buccaneers. The last win in the series for Flagler was on Feb. 19, 1994. Flagler defeated the nation's No. 1 and No. 2 ranked teams in the country on back-to-back days. The Saints knocked off No. 1 University of West Florida in yesterday's semifinal.
The match came down to No. 4 singles and No. 73-ranked
Aly El Rafie came through in the end winning 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (7-3). El Rafie had opened up a 4-1 lead in the third set until only to have Thomas Machado rally to tie the score at 4-all. Each player traded wins to force the tiebreaker. El Rafie posted the first three points, then took a 4-2 lead, and Machado had a double-fault to widen the gap to 5-2. El Rafie took the last two-of-three points to secure the match.
Flagler opened the day by taking two of the doubles matches. The No. 30-ranked doubles team of
Ilian Borlee and
Simon Malis won the first match 6-3 while
Aniss Rafiq and
Oliver Hradilek clinched the double point with a 6-4 triumph.
The Saints grabbed a 2-0 lead after Rafiq, the No. 35-ranked singles player, swept No. 2-ranked Yan Kodjoed 6-2 and 6-1. The Buccaneers won the next three singles matches to take a 3-2 advantage.
No. 17
Simon Malis triumphed over No. 16 Riccardo Trione 6-7(2-7), 6-1, and 6-3 to knot the match at 3-all.
"We are very fortunate to work with so many great people here at Flagler College," added Piibor. "It is very special to share this title with everyone as so many of you played a part in making this possible."
CONNECT WITH THE SAINTS: Facebook |
X |
Instagram |
YouTube
DOWNLOAD TEAM SCHEDULES: Download Center
FOLLOW YOUR FAVORITE SAINTS TEAM: Sign up for Newsletter
