COLUMBUS, Ga. - The No. 11-ranked Lander men's tennis team advanced past No. 14 Francis Marion, 5-2, in the semifinal round of the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional Tournament Sunday morning at the Mary V. Blackmon Tennis Center. The tournament is being hosted by Columbus State University. (Tournament Website)

Third-seeded Lander, which improves to 17-4 overall, will face second-seeded Columbus State at 3 p.m., Monday for the right to advance to the national tournament to be held May 11-14 at Altamonte Springs, Fla.

Sixth-seeded FMU ends the season at 11-8. Columbus State, which is ranked No. 13, defeated No. 15 and seventh-seeded Georgia College, 5-1, in the first round.

The other half of the Southeast Regional, whose winner will also advance to the nationals, is being played at Armstrong Atlantic State University in Savannah, Ga. and consists of top-seeded Armstrong Atlantic, fourth-seeded Flagler, fifth-seeded Augusta State, eighth-seeded Queens and ninth-seeded Anderson. 

After winning two of three doubles matches, Lander needed just three wins in singles to clinch the match.

In doubles, No. 1 Paul-Henri Arrigoni/Oscar Perman (L) def. No. 18 Alex Caspari/Karl Rogers (F), 9-7; No. 2 Henrik Willers/Oscar Axelsson (L) def. Oshada Wigemanne/Jack Bishop (F), 8-3; and No. 3 Tim Ruepke/Dirk Bair (F) def. Christopher Mattsson/Ross Armstrong (L), 8-5.

In singles, Lander won the Nos. 3, 4 and 6 positions to earn enough points to end the match. At No. 3, Carlos Marques (L) def. Ruepke (F), 6-3, 6-0; No. 4 Perman (L) def. Bishop (F), 6-0, 6-0; and No. 6 Mattsson (L) def. Tanguy Montoisy (F), 6-3, 6-2.

In the only other completed singles match, No. 8-ranked Oshada Wijemanne of Francis Marion upset Lander's fifth-ranked Paul-Henri Arrigoni, 6-3, 6-1, in the No. 1 match.