COLUMBUS, Ga. - The nationally No. 4-ranked Lander men's tennis team defeated No. 26 Francis Marion, 5-0, Saturday in the first round of the Southeast Regional Tournament at the Mary V. Blackmon Tennis Center and is now just one way away from returning to the NCAA's Round of 16. (Tournament Website)

The Bearcats, who are seeded No. 3 in the regional, improve to 18-5 overall, while sixth-seeded Francis Marion ends the season at 15-10.

Lander will face second-seeded Columbus State at 3 p.m., Sunday, for the right to advance to the NCAA Championships Round of 16, May 18-21, in Denver, Colo. Lander reached the semifinals of the national tournament last year.

In Saturday's first match, Columbus State blanked seventh-seeded USC Aiken, 5-0.

Lander opened play by sweeping all three doubles matches, then needed only two victories in singles to clinch the match.

At No. 1 doubles, the Bearcats' No. 8 nationally-ranked team of Marc Hofer and Loic Minery downed FMU's Richard Ashforth/Philipp Sluga, 9-8 (9-7), then No. 2 Chris Devoize/David Korsten (LU) def. Robin Hoek/Tarass Thevenaz (FMU) 8-6; and No. 3 Ozan Cildir/Alex Regner (LU) def. J. Roettlingsberger/Raul Madrid (FMU) 9-7.

In singles, Lander's No. 33-ranked Loic Minery defeated Robin Hoek (FMU), 6-0, 6-2 at the No. 3 slot, and No. 6 Alex Springer (LU) took down Raul Madrid (FMU), 6-0, 6-2.

The remaining matches were unfinished.

During the regular season, Lander downed Columbus State, 8-1, in a Feb. 20 match at the Bearcats' Joe Cabri Tennis Center, but the Cougars got revenge by downing the Bearcats, 5-4, in the semifinal round of the Peach Belt Conference tournament on April 23 in Florence, S.C.