MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Belhaven men's tennis rallied off two big victories against Lee and No. 7 William Carey to reach the Southern States Athletic Conference championship for the first time in school history. Belhaven blanked the Flames 5-0 before evening the season series with the Crusaders 5-3 at Lagoon Park in Montgomery.

Belhaven, the three-seed, faced Lee in the first match of the day. The two teams were scheduled to face each other early in the season, but thunderstorms forced the match to be cancelled and never made up.

Lee had teased with the NAIA rankings early in the season, but had fallen out in recent polls due to a 4-4 record entering the conference tournament.

The Blazers had to fight for all three wins in doubles to put Belhaven up 3-0 entering singles. Nikita Lisov and Andres Yepez continued their winning ways at first doubles with an 8-5 win over Richard Gamble and Fabio Medina. Jefferson Nino and David Mejia won 8-4 at second doubles, while Daniel Prado and Enrico Patriarca won handily at third doubles.

Nino shut out his opponent Vincent Audy 6-0, 6-0 at second singles to bring the Blazers within a point of reaching the heavily anticipated semifinals. Mejia came through for the Blazers at fourth singles in straight sets to pull off the important victory.

The second match of the day was a rematch between Belhaven and William Carey. The Crusaders had walked out of Jackson with a 6-3 over the Blazers on March 25, but that was the last time that Belhaven had lost a match, rallying off six straight since that date.

Belhaven took a good first step towards settling the score by taking two of three doubles matches. The reshuffled lineup at second doubles worked wonders for the Blazers as they won 8-6. Third doubles came up with a big win as well, defeating Toni Gauta and Jose Ruda 8-4 to clinch the second point of the match.

The Blazers narrowly lost at first doubles.

Belhaven got their third point of the match on a straight set win by Nino at the two. Nino swept the season series with Mathinius Visser with a 6-4, 6-4 victory on Saturday afternoon.

However, the Crusaders were far from being out of the match. They rallied off wins at first and fourth singles to pull even with Belhaven entering the final three individual matches of the day.

Daniel Prado reclaimed the lead for the Blazers with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Edward Spillman at third singles, making it a 4-3 match overall. Patriarca battled through a first-set tiebreak and blitzed his opponent in the second set to send the Blazers to the SSAC title match with Auburn-Montgomery.

Coach Levi Patton was thrilled about the effort following the two wins on Saturday. “This is the biggest victory on the men's side in the last 15 years. This was the highest-ranked team Belhaven has beaten during my time here. Gabriel Prado—Belhaven's tennis graduate assistant—deserves all the credit in the world for as much time as he has invested in these guys. He has been the backbone of the program as a player and as an assistant over the past 5 years.”

Belhaven will return to Montgomery on Monday for the thrilling conclusion of the 2013 SSAC Tournament against Auburn-Montgomery. The Warhawks defeated the Blazers 9-0 in the only match between the two schools this year.
 
Results:

LEE

Singles
1. Nikita Lisov (BU) vs. Richard Gamble (LEE) unfinished
2. #32 Jefferson Nino (BU) def. Vincent Audy (LEE) 6-0, 6-0
3. Daniel Prado (BU) vs. Fabio Medina (LEE) unfinished
4. David Mejia (BU) def. Patrick Kim (LEE) 6-3, 6-2
5. Enrico Patriarca (BU) vs. Kevin Tan (LEE) unfinished
6. Andres Yepez (BU) vs. Andre Ishida (LEE) unfinished
 
Doubles
1. Nikita Lisov/Andres Yepez (BU) def. Richard Gamble/Fabio Medina (LEE) 8-5
2. Jefferson Nino/David Mejia (BU) def. Kevin Tan/Vincent Audy (LEE) 8-4
3. Daniel Prado/Enrico Patriarca (BU) def. Patrick Kim/Andre Ishida (LEE) 8-2
 
WILLIAM CAREY
 
Singles
1. #12 Jody Claasen (WCU) def. Nikita Lisov (BU) 6-2, 6-4
2. #32 Jefferson Nino (BU) def. #22 Marthinius Visser (WCU) 6-4, 6-4
3. #41 Robin Semal (WCU) def. Daniel Prado (BU) 7-6, 6-2
4. David Mejia (BU) def. Edward Spillman (WCU) 7-6, 7-5
5. Enrico Patriarca (BU) def. Jose Ruda (WCU) 6-4, 6-3
6. Toni Gauta (WCU) vs. Andres Yepez (BU) unfinished
 
Doubles
1. Marthinius Visser/Robin Semal (WCU) def. Nikita Lisov/Andres Yepez (BU) 8-4
2. Jefferson Nino/David Mejia (BU) def. Jody Claasen/Edward Spillman (WCU) 8-6
3. Daniel Prado/Enrico Patriarca (BU) def. Toni Gauta/Jose Ruda (WCU) 8-4