The PBC Men's Tennis Tournament got off to an exciting start today with the quarterfinals. Each of the top three seeds from today's matchups advance to tomorrow's semifinals. The semifinals are set for 12:00pm in Columbus as #1 Columbus State will face #4 Lander, and #2 Flagler will face #3 North Georgia.
#4 LANDER 4-3 #5 MIDDLE GEORGIA
LANDER SURVIVES PBC QUARTERFINALS, DEFEATS MIDDLE GEORGIA 4-3
COLUMBUS - The No. 26 Lander men's tennis team opened the Peach Belt Conference Tournament with a hard-fought 4-3 victory over No. 5 seed Middle Georgia in Friday's quarterfinal matchup at the John W. Walden Tennis Center.
Lander (12-5) secured the crucial doubles point to take early momentum. The Bearcats' top tandem of Brendan Jayaprakash and Harry Pugh set the tone with a decisive 6-1 win at No. 1 doubles. Moments later, Ismail ElShafei and Benjamin Bates clinched the point with a 6-3 victory at No. 2, giving Lander a 1-0 lead. The No. 3 doubles match was left unfinished with the teams tied at 5-5.
In singles play, Lander extended its advantage as ElShafei battled past Michal Glocman 7-5, 5-7, 6-3 at No. 4 singles, the first match off the court, pushing the Bearcats ahead 2-0. Middle Georgia (5-11) responded with a surge, claiming three consecutive singles matches to take a 3-2 lead. Alejandro Vizoso defeated Max Barriere 7-5, 6-2 at No. 1 singles, followed by Alexandr Achour's 6-3, 6-4 win over Anton Krondell at No. 3. The Knights then pulled ahead when Daniel Garcia Suarez fell to Julian Peter 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 at No. 2 singles.
With the match hanging in the balance, Middle Georgia evened things once more as Duarte Mestre topped Chan Min 6-4, 2-6, 6-0 at No. 6 singles, leaving the overall score tied at 3-3. The decisive point came down to No. 5 singles, where Jayaprakash delivered under pressure. He secured the clinching victory with a 7-5, 6-1 win over Vicente Faria, sealing the match for Lander on court five and completing the comeback.
With the win, Lander advances to the semifinals, where it will face top-seeded Columbus State on Saturday at 12 p.m. in Columbus, Ga.
#2 FLAGLER 4-0 #7 GCSU
SAINTS DEFEAT BOBCATS TO ADVANCE TO PBC SEMIFINALS
COLUMBUS, Ga. - In the opening round of the Peach Belt Conference Tournament, the No. 3 Flagler College men's tennis team defeated Georgia College & State University 4-0 to advance to the semifinal round this afternoon at the John W. Walden Tennis Center.
The Saints defeated the Bobcats for the second time this season, previously sweeping them 7-0. Flagler will face second seeded, No. 15 University of North Georgia tomorrow at 12 PM. Previously, the Saints came out on top, 5-2 over the Nighthawks during the regular season.
Doubles saw movement among some of the pairings compared to the Saints previous matches. Starting off,
Aniss Rafiq and
Filip Kana defeated Reid Bissell and Finn O'Neill, 6-1, to remain undefeated as a pair. The final win was
Aly El Rafie and
Noah Paterson's fourth in a row, defeating Braxton Wright and David Munoz Botia 6-2.
Prior to the stoppage, Freshman
Oliver Hradilek was on the cusp of defeating Manoel Guimaraes, 6-1 and 5-0. This is Hradilek's first match since Feb. 15 against No. 6 Washburn University. Kana remained undefeated on the day, defeating O'Neill 6-0 and 6-3. Playing his first career match at court three,
Raphael Rousson defeated Jakob Andergassen 6-1 and 6-3. To send the Saints to the semifinal round, No. 31 Rafiq defeated No. 61 Chase Martin 6-3 and 6-2.
#3 NORTH GEORGIA 4-0 #6 AUGUSTA
NORTH GEORGIA NIGHTHAKWS SWEEP AUGUSTA TO EARN SPOT IN PBC SEMIFINAL
COLUMBUS - The No. 15 University of North Georgia (UNG) men's tennis team advanced to the Peach Belt Conference semifinals with a 4-0 sweep of Augusta on Friday.
The Nighthawks secured the doubles point by taking two of three matches. Franco Rebora and Marcos Castellanos cruised to a 6-1 victory at No. 3 while João Luis Silva and Ben Brandl earned a 6-4 win at No. 1 doubles. Augusta's Alexis Bailhache and David Perret picked up a 6-4 win at No. 2.
North Georgia carried that momentum into singles play, winning three straight matches in straight sets to clinch the victory. Rebora was first off the court at No. 5 singles with a 6-0, 6-3 win over Enzo Sakiyama. Silva followed with a 6-3, 6-2 victory against Bailhache at the top spot, and Juan Cruz Blanco sealed the match with a 6-3, 6-4 decision over Alejandro Carbonell at No. 4.
The remaining matches went unfinished. Marcos Castellanos dropped the first set at No. 2 before trailing in the second, while Brandl led after one set at No. 3. Lleyton Beasley was in a tight battle at No. 6, splitting sets.
With the win, North Georgia advances to face Flagler in the PBC semifinals on Saturday. First serve is set for noon.