ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, FLORIDA – UT Tyler men's tennis will have plenty to celebrate about their season as they made the NCAA Quarterfinals for the first time as a Division II program before falling to number one overall seed Flagler.
 
The Patriots pushed the Saints to four total third sets on the day in singles after taking the doubles point to lead off play.
 
In those doubles matches, Mohamed Forkane Lebdi and Job Japelj set the tone early as the pair delivered a huge 6-1 win in line #3 to put the Patriots just one win away from a 1-0 lead.
 
Line #1 and #2 each were tight fought battles, with neither side building a big advantage. Finally it was the #48 ranked pair of Joaquin Bianchi and Carel Wessel who took down the #29 ranked pair from Flager in line #2 to give UT Tyler a 1-0 lead.
 
Over in singles however, Flagler found their groove, as they took a pair of straight set wins in both the #4 and #6 lines. Daniil Felker fell by a score of 6-3, 6-1, while Yudai Watanabe fell by scores of 6-4, 6-1.
 
That gave Flagler the lead, but the remaining four matches all were forced into third sets, setting up a dramatic finish at Sanlando Park.
 
The next match to close out was the #3 line, as Carel Wessel fought back from a 6-3 defeat in set one to even up the match with a 6-1 set win in set two. The third set would fall Flagler's way, as they took a 6-3 win to move ahead 3-1.
 
The final point of the day came in the #1 line, as #11 ranked Joaquin Bianchi battled with #19 ranked Jacopo Denitto. Bianchi took the opening set 7-5, but Denitto battled back with a 6-3 win to even up the match. In the final set, Denitto came away with a 6-2 win to earn the fourth point necessary for the win.
 
Egor Shestakov and Jordi Garcia Portell each also took their matches to the third set, but neither match finished due to the final point being scored.
 
For UT Tyler, it marks the end of another incredible season, as they made their first ever appearance in the NCAA Division II Quarterfinals. They took home their second LSC Tournament title in program history, and also made their third consecutive appearance in the NCAA Division II Round of 16 in just their third year of Division II eligibility.