SURPRISE, Ariz. (May 21, 2026) – No. 12 Lubbock Christian saw its historic season come to an end Thursday morning, falling 4-0 to No. 4 Flagler College in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Division II Men's Tennis Championships at the Surprise Tennis and Racquet Complex. The loss snapped a 13-match winning streak for the Chaparrals, who closed the season 23-6 overall after capturing both the program's first Lone Star Conference regular-season championship and a second consecutive LSC tournament title.
Flagler (22-4) seized control early by claiming the doubles point in order of finish. The Saints opened with a 6-1 victory at No. 3 doubles, where Aniss Rafiq and Oliver Hradilek defeated
Marco Seccia and
Andrea Rossi Principe. Moments later, the No. 30-ranked Flagler tandem of Ilian Borlee and Simon Malis secured the point with a 6-3 win over LCU's No. 8-ranked pairing of
Mattia Ghedin and No. 4
Kelly Giese at the top position. The No. 2 doubles match featuring the No. 26-ranked duo of
Andres De Los Rios and
Pablo Segura went unfinished with the Chaparrals leading 5-3.
The Saints carried that momentum into singles play and methodically built their lead through the lower half of the lineup. Oliver Hradilek struck first at No. 6 singles with a 6-1, 6-3 win over
Hayden Loffler to extend Flagler's advantage to 2-0. No. 35 Rafiq followed at No. 2, defeating No. 20 Segura 6-3, 6-3 to put the Saints one point away from clinching the dual.
Flagler sealed the match at No. 4 singles, where No. 73 Aly El Rafie held off No. 31 De Los Rios 6-1, 7-5. De Los Rios battled back in the second set after trailing early, but El Rafie closed the match late in the frame to secure the deciding point and send the Saints into the national semifinals.
Although the dual concluded before the remaining courts finished, LCU was battling competitively across the top half of the lineup. At No. 1 singles, No. 4 Giese had rallied after dropping the opening set against No. 17 Simon Malis and forced a third set before the match was halted. At No. 3 singles, No. 57 Ghedin had also recovered from a first-set deficit against No. 14 Borlee and had leveled the match entering a deciding third set, while Seccia was in the midst of a comeback effort at No. 5 after winning the second set against Filip Kana.
The quarterfinal appearance marked LCU's second consecutive trip to the NCAA Division II final site and capped another milestone season for the Chaparrals, who finished 13-4 against nationally ranked opponents while advancing to the national quarterfinals for the second straight year. LCU also completed the fourth season of the program's NCAA era having qualified for the NCAA postseason in all four eligible seasons.
Several Chaparrals concluded standout careers in the loss. Giese, the two-time reigning Lone Star Conference Singles Player of the Year, finished his final season in Lubbock with a program-record 34 singles victories and ended his career with an 83-26 singles mark and a 70-31 doubles record while carrying a 21-match singles winning streak into the season finale. De Los Rios capped his two-year Chaparrals career at 54-19 in singles and 44-23 in doubles after becoming only the second player in program history to reach 31 singles wins in a season. Ghedin also closed a decorated LCU career with a 68-33 singles record and 63-37 doubles mark while posting a 28-11 singles season and a 20-5 dual record this spring.
The season also featured multiple landmark achievements for the Chaparrals, including the program's first Lone Star Conference regular-season championship, back-to-back conference tournament titles and the program's first regular-season victory over an NCAA Division I opponent with a win at New Mexico State earlier this spring.
