VALDOSTA, Ga. – #12 Saint Leo University men's tennis team opened the NCAA South Regional with a 4-3 win over fifth-seed #16 Lee University (Tenn.) on Friday. With the win the Lion will advance to the regional final with a chance to punch their ticket to the national championship for a second-straight year. The match came down to the third set on the final court as Saint Leo earned the victory to advance to take on top-ranked Valdosta State on Saturday morning. Saint Leo improved to 20-8 overall with the victory.

Saint Leo took the early 1-0 lead earning the doubles point. A 6-3 win by the number three doubles pair of Vincent Thiel and Eduardo Cohen opened play. Dylan Andrianaly and Luis Iriarte clinched the doubles point for the Lions with a 6-2 win at number two doubles.

The Flames tied the match at 1-1 with a 6-1 and 6-2 win at number three singles. Back-to-back wins by #12 Vincent Theil (6-1, 7-5) at number one singles and Eduardo Cohen (6-4, 6-3) at number five singles gave the Green & Gold a 3-1 advantage. Lee earned wins on courts two and six to tie the back-up, this time at 3-3. Luis Iriarte earned the clinching point at number four singles. Iriarte dropped the first set 6-4 before claiming the final two sets, 7-5 and 6-4 to clinch the match point for Saint Leo.
 
#12 SAINT LEO 4, #16 LEE 3
DOUBLES
1. Kodai Kato / Jose David Segovia (SLU) vs. #11 Quinn Groenendijk / Jip Langerhuizen (LEE), 4-5 UF
2. Dylan Andrianaly / Luis Iriarte (SLU) def. Filipe Krohn / Stefan Mos (LEE), 6-2
3. Vincent Thiel / Eduardo Cohen (SLU) def. Wihan van der Merwe / Rytis Razminas (LEE), 6-3
 
SINGLES
1. #12 Vincent Theil (SLU) def. #57 Wihan van der Merwe (LEE), 6-1, 7-5
2. Quinn Groenendijk (LEE) def. Jose David Segovia (SLU), 6-2, 7-6(5)
3. Filipe Krohn (LEE) def. Dylan Andrianaly (SLU), 6-1, 6-2
4. Luis Iriarte (SLU) def. Jip Langerhuizen (LEE), 4-6, 7-5, 6-4
5. Eduardo Cohen (SLU) vs. Stefan Mos (LEE), 6-4, 6-3
6. Rytis Razminas (LEE) def. Kodai Kato (SLU), 6-2, 4-6, 6-3
 
ORDER OF FINISH
DOUBLES: 3, 2
SINGLES: 3, 1, 5, 2, 6, 4
 
UP NEXT
Saint Leo will take on top-ranked Valdosta State in the regional final on Saturday, May 10. The winner will advance to the national tournament in Orlando later this month.