ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. - The Flagler College men's tennis team saw three Saints earn Intercollegiate Tennis Association(ITA) All-America earlier this week, according to the latest ITA National Poll, released this week by organization officials.

For the first time in the Division II era Flagler earned more than two distinctions. To be awarded an ITA DII All-America distinction, an athlete must finish ranked in the top 20 of the final ITA singles rankings and the top 10 in the last doubles rankings. 

The highest ranked Saint in the latest ITA National Poll was Simon Malis who finished at No.13. Malis tied his season best at No. 13 where he went two weeks at that rank through the Mar. 18 and Mar. 25 poll. Malis finished with the second highest winning percentage of any Saint this season as he finished with a 19-4 record in dual matches. Finishing on an 11 win streak, the highest of any Saint this season, Malis boasted a 4-1 record on court one, 9-2 on court two and 6-1 on court three. Against nationally ranked opponents, Malis finished at a 7-3 record with two of those wins being against top-10 opponents. Malis went on to set a program record as the only Saint in program history to defeated the No. 1 ranked player in the country, defeating Sebastian Rondon 6-1 and 6-4 in the NCAA DII National semifinals. 

Aniss Rafiq blossomed on the latter half of the season to earn his highest ITA ranking of the season, finishing at No. 14. Ending on a six match win streak, Rafiq finished with a perfect 7-0 record on court two and a 7-5 record against nationally ranked opponents. In the final two matches of the season, Rafiq faced the No. 2 and No. 3 player in Division II. Against No. 3 Diego Duran of No. 1 University of West Florida, Rafiq rallied back to earn his highest ranked win at that point in his career, 3-6, 6-2 and 6-3. In the NCAA Championship, Rafiq was the first singles player to finish his match, defeating the new highest ranked player of his career, Yan Kodjoed 6-2 and 6-1.

For the second consecutive year, Ilian Borlee finished as the highest winning Saint on the team. Borlee finished with a 19-3 record, playing predominately at court three. Borlee faced four ranked opponents during the season, winning two. Earlier this season, the senior was the only Saint to crack the top-10 this season, as he sat at No. 10 for the Mar. 25 rankings. Through the Apr. 1 to the Apr. 15 rankings, Borlee was ranked No. 11. His highest ranked win came against No. 23 Kilian Martinez of No. 8 Washburn University, 6-3, 4-6 and 1-0(10-7). Borlee finished his career as a Saint second in all-time wins in program history with 83 and is only the second to eclipse 80 wins. Philipp Lemken holds the record as he finished his career with 84 wins.

Borlee and Malis are the first doubles pair to earn ITA All-America since 2011 where David Cotrone and Gino Ramirez finished ranked No. 7. The senior, junior duo emerged as the Saints most dominant pair who finished with a 13-1 record which earned them No. 4 in the nation. Entering the post season, Borlee and Malis were ranked No. 30 and went on to upset five of their matches. In their only top-10 ranked win, the Saints defeated No. 8 Mattia Ghedin and Kelly Giese of Lubbock Christian University, 6-3. In the process, Borlee and Malis defeated Lander University's No. 16 Harry Pugh and Brendan Jayaprakash and Barry's No. 19 Riccardo Trione and Simone Cavalleri. The singular loss came from No. 1 ranked Rondon and Duran 7-6(7-4).

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