As a Flagler College freshman in 2024, Aly El Rafie lost the deciding singles match against Valdosta State in a 4-3 loss to the Blazers in the NCAA Division II National Championship finals in Altamonte Springs.
Two years later and two time zones west, the native of Egypt delivered Flagler’s first Division II national championship in any sport.
El Rafie defeated Thomas Machado of Barry University in a third-set tie-breaker at fourth singles on May 24 to give the Saints a 4-3 victory over the Buccaneers in the national championship match at the Sunrise Tennis and Racquetball Center in Sunrise, Ariz., capping a miraculous run through the NCAAs for the Saints and ending decades of frustration against their Miami-based opponent.
El Rafie beat Machado 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (7-3) for the deciding point. Flagler had been 0-23 against Barry and had lost 15 matches in a row with Barry as a ranked opponent, dating back to 2008.
Flagler won in its third appearance in a national title match
The Saints (24-4) had made two trips to the NCAA Division II national championship match under coach Jonas Pilbor, losing in 2022 to Barry and to Valdosta State.
Flagler won its last six matches of the season after falling to Columbus State (Ga.) in the Peach Belt Conference finals. The Saints earned an at-large bid in the NCAA Southeast Region II tournament and blanked Lander (S.C.) and Columbus 4-0 in Columbus to reach the national finals.
The fourth-ranked Saints then swept past Queens (N.Y.) 4-0, Lubbock Christian 4-0 and top-ranked West Florida 4-2 to earn their championship bout against No. 2 Barry.
Saints win their third tennis national title
Flagler, which won NAIA National titles in 1977 and 1985 under the late Peter Scott, took the doubles point against Barry when Ilian Borlee and Simons Malis beat Simone Cavalleri and Riccardo Trione 6-3 and Aniss Rafiq and Oliver Hradileck topped Antonio Chapius and Yan Kodjoed 6-4.
Malis won No. 1 singles over Trione 6-7 (2-7), 6-1, 6-2 and Rafiq routed Kodjoed 6-2, 6-1 at No. 2 singles. Barry fought back with victories at Nos. 3 and 5, setting the stage for Rafie’s dramatic victory.
Rafiq and Hradileck went 6-0 and Borlee and Malis went 5-1 in doubles in the NCAA Tournament. Rafiq was 6-0 in singles.
The Saints lost only five points in the tournament, all in the final two matches. Flagler was 11-3 in doubles, with three unfinished matches, and 19-4 in singles, with 12 unfinished.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Flagler College men’s tennis stuns Barry for NCAA Division II national title
Reporting by Garry Smits, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
