If the Flagler College men’s tennis team thought the 15 days between their loss to Columbus State (Ga.) in the Peach Belt Conference championship match on April 26 and the first round of the NCAA Southeast Region II tournament was going to be a mini-vacation, coach Jonas Piibor had other ideas.
“We were finished with school, and we thought the practices were going to be a little chill,” said junior Aly El Rafie. “We didn’t want to go into the NCAA with our legs tired.”
Instead, after playing eight matches in 26 days, the Saints were put through some rigorous paces, both on the tennis court and conditioning. The physical work came along with some intense team and individual meetings with Piibor as the team sought to overcome the sting of a third consecutive loss to Columbus, two of them in the post-season and one, in 2025, that eliminated the Saints from the NCAA tournament.
Piibor believed the potential was still there for some late-season magic.
“We addressed what we needed to improve,” he said. “But time was running out.”
El Rafie said the team quickly realized that Piibor wasn’t kidding.
“We practiced a lot longer, and tougher than we had all season,” he said. “Maybe when we started back, we didn’t understand. But now we do. It was worth it.”
The school’s first NCAA Division II national championship was the reward, beating No. 2-ranked Barry University of Miami 4-3 in the final match in Surprise, Ariz., on May 24, overcoming a 3-2 deficit with two three-set singles match victories by juniors El Rafie and Simon Malis.
Saints peaked at the right time
Flagler rebounded from their fourth loss of the season in the PBC finals in Columbus, Ga., and swept through the NCAA South Region back in Columbus and then the national finals to win the school’s third national championship in men’s tennis and their first since the second of two NAIA titles in 1985 under Peter Scott.
Flagler blanked Lander 4-0 and got its payback against Columbus 4-1 in the region to earn their ticket to Surprise.
The Saints then shut out both Queens (N.Y.) and Lubbock Christian 4-0 and eliminated top-ranked West Florida 4-2 in the semifinals to earn their spot opposite Barry in the championship, where they beat the Buccaneers for the first time in 32 years.
Flagler outscored its six NCAA opponents 24-6 and finished with a 24-4 record, the most victories since winning 28 in 1988. The Saints ended the season first in the final Intercollegiate Tennis Association Division II rankings.
Flagler won the title with a young team
The Saints did it with only one senior on the roster, captain Ilian Borlee of Belgium, and two juniors, El Rafie and Malis of the Czech Republic.
The rest of the team are freshmen and sophomores. Two freshmen, Aniss Rafiq of France and Oliver Hradilek of Slovakia, combined to go 5-0 in doubles during the national championship run.
But the three most experienced players, Borlee, El Rafie and Malis, played on the 2024 team that reached the NCAA Championship match. Borlee and Malis were 5-1 in doubles during the NCAA Tournament and El Rafie was 6-0 in singles.
Flagler also was a diverse group put together by Piibor, a three-time All-Missouri Valley Conference player for Indiana State who came to St. Augustine in 2021 after serving as the head coach at his alma mater and then at Gonzaga.
The Saints are an All-International team with nine players from Europe and El Rafie from Egypt. But backgrounds blurred for the common good.
“We played our best tennis at the end of the year,” Piibor said. “The attitudes were better. They bought into what we were doing, and the overall commitment was on the same page. That wasn’t always the case, and I emphasized to them that we were going to do the right things, on and off the court. They finally did that, and we started to play well from top to bottom.”
Flagler ended losing streaks vs. Columbus, Barry
The two most important victories saw the Saints get over the hump against Columbus in the region finals and Barry in the national finals.
The Saints had lost eight of 13 matches to Columbus since 2021, three in conference tournament finals and once in the semifinals.
Flagler then slayed another demon in beating seven-time national champion Barry in the thrilling championship match. The Saints had lost 23 matches in a row to the Bucs, dating back to the 1995 season.
Piibor wasn’t concerned about his team having long memories against Barry, since there were none.
Flagler had not played the Buccaneers in a dual match since the 2022 national championship finals in Altamonte Springs (won by Barry 4-0) and the current team’s only experience facing Barry was in a fall individual tournament.
“Nobody on the team had played against Barry, but we had some pretty good results in the fall tournament against some of their players,” he said. “I don’t think our guys were worried about past history. We’re focused more on what we do.”
Columbus was another issue. The Saints swept the Cougars in three 2024 matches, the third time in the Peach Belt championship, but entered the region having lost three of four.
“We had success against them two years ago but losing to them twice this year, and in the conference, really hurt,” El Rafie said. “I think that third time, we all wanted it more. After winning that match [in the region], we started to believe in ourselves again.”
El Rafie battled heat, cramps to win
The Saints had little trouble getting to the championship match, outscoring three opponents 12-1.
Flagler got a huge boost when it won the doubles point against the Bucs (the team winning two of three one-set doubles matches earns a team point), as Malis and Borlee beat Riccardo Trione and Simone Cavalleri 6-3 and Rafiq and Hradilek beat Yan Kodjoed and Antonin Chapuis 6-4.
It was the first time in the NCAAs that Barry had failed to win the doubles point.
But the Bucs rallied to win three of the next four singles matches to take the lead before Malis beat Trione 6-7 (2-7), 6-1, 6-3 and El Rafie closed it out over Thomas Machado 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (7-3).
In temperatures that topped out at 97 degrees that day, under a cloudless Arizona sky, nothing came easily for El Rafie in the final set and the tiebreaker.
El Rafie had a 4-0 lead in the third set against Machado but started cramping. Malis won his match to tie the team score at 3-3 after Machado closed the gap against El Rafie to 4-2, and he then tied it at 4-4.
For the next four games and the third-set tiebreaker, El Rafie was on his own, the weight of the Saints’ national championship hopes on his shoulders.
Embracing the pressure
When he started cramping, El Rafie flashed back to 2024 in Altamonte Springs when he lost to Christian Wedel of Valdosta State 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 in the deciding match after coming down with cramps.
And against Machado, El Rafie was facing an experienced, determined opponent who fought off a match point in the 11th game of the set.
“I had him [Machado] 4-0, and he came back,” El Rafie said. “I had match point at 6-5 and he came back. He’s a senior. He’s been in a lot of tough matches in his life. It reminded me of the match I had against Valdosta State and I told myself, ‘you cannot lose this again.'”
With his teammates passing him sports drinks at every opportunity, El Rafie stayed upright in the blazing Arizona heat. But when the third set went to the tiebreaker, his spirits rose a bit.
“All I needed was seven points,” he said. “At that point, the heat, the cramps … it didn’t matter. I could get seven points.”
El Rafie quickly went up 4-2. When the two changed courts and it was Machado’s serve, El Rafie was almost glad.
“He was on a side where the sun, at that time of day, was getting in your eyes on the service toss,” he said. “It was right on top of you.”
Whether that was a factor or not, Machado double-faulted to give El Rafie a 5-2 lead. El Rafie won two of the last three points, breaking Machado on match point with a crosscourt forehand that Machado returned wide.
“I expected him to come back again,” El Rafie said. “At first, I was shocked when he hit it wide. Then I was relieved. So many emotions hit me.”
He didn’t completely realize it until his teammates rushed the court and mobbed him.
Watching with satisfaction was Piibor, who had talked with his players often about pressure.
“You need to have a plan to handle those situations,” he said. “We talk about being a privilege to have pressure, visualizing yourself in those moments … ‘what am I going to do at this point?’ It’s moments like Aly faced where the training, both mental and physical, pays dividends.”
Adding another chapter to Flagler history
In addition to the three men’s tennis national championships, Flagler has five women’s NAIA national titles, under Walter Shinn from 1987 to 1991. Shinn went on to coach the men’s team for 22 years.
Piibor said he had never met Peter Scott before his passing in 2021 but was well-versed in his legacy. He said Shinn has been a big supporter and was among those present when the team was welcomed home on May 26 during a celebration at the Flagler Tennis Center
“It was an emotional moment to see Walter,” Piibor said. “He’s a great, great man.”
The Flagler men’s team also will always have the distinction of being the school’s first NCAA Division II national champions.
“I know the history that Flagler has in tennis and I’ve been connected with so many people who either played back then or followed the teams,” Piibor said. “It feels good to be able to share this with them. Former players, administrators, people in the community … it’s been very humbling to have their support. Tennis is a big deal at Flagler. It feels very special to have joined those coaches to keep his history and tradition alive.”
Flagler athletic director Jud Damon said winning another national championship 25 years after the women’s team won its last NAIA title, is important to a Division II school with an enrollment of just over 2,400 students — even in a non-revenue-producing sport.
“Another tennis championship has been a long time coming, and we’re extremely proud of the program and all it has accomplished,” Damon said. “In the early days of this school, under Peter Scott and Walter Shinn, tennis put us on the map and brought us recognition. We have a history and tradition in tennis and it’s important for the reputation of the school and our brand. It benefits the entire institution.”
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Flagler College peaked at the right time for NCAA Division II tennis title
Reporting by Garry Smits, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
