COLUMBUS, Ga. - In a tightly contested Peach Belt Conference Tournament semifinal, No. 25 Lander University dropped a hard-fought 4-1 decision to top-seeded and fourth-ranked Flagler Saturday morning at the John W. Walden Tennis Center.
The fourth-seeded Bearcats (12-7) battled until the final point, with multiple singles matches left unfinished in a clash that showed Lander's resilience and grit on the biggest stage of the postseason.
Doubles Recap
In doubles play, Lander found themselves in an early hole as Flagler took the doubles point with commanding wins on courts one and two.Â
Brendan Jayaprakash and Harry Pugh, ranked No. 47 nationally, fell 6-1 at the top spot to No. 30 Ilian Borlee and Simon Malis, while Merlin Bellet and Ludvig Danielsson were bested 6-2 on court two.Â
On court three, Markus Sorensen and Max Barriere were showing strong momentum, leading 5-2 over Aly El Rafie and Baptiste Mercier before the match was left unfinished.
Singles Recap
The Bearcats showed plenty of fight in singles play, highlighted by Mouad Naoui's dominant straight-sets victory on court four. The senior rolled past Makary Adamek, 6-1, 6-3, to put Lander on the board.Â
Despite the effort, Flagler claimed points at No. 2, 3, and 6 singles to clinch the match. Bellet was topped by Malis, 6-4, 6-0 on court two, while Sorensen fell 7-5, 6-2 at No. 3. Jayaprakash forced a third set after a second-set shutout but ultimately fell 6-3, 0-6, 6-4 to El Rafie on court six.
One of the most compelling moments of the match came on court one, where freshman No. 56 Harry Pugh was locked in a high-level battle with No. 36 Baptiste Mercier. After dropping the first set, Pugh responded with a 7-6 (4) second set, leading 5-3 in the third when the match was called.Â
At No. 5 singles, Ismail ElShafei's match also went unfinished in a back-and-forth battle with Filip Kana.
Lander ranked No. 8 in the most recent NCAA Division II Southeast Region rankings, will now await the NCAA Tournament selection show on May 5 at 8 p.m. to see if it secures one of the five at-large berths to continue its postseason journey.
