FLUSHING, N.Y. – For the ninth time in program history, the Queens College men's tennis team is headed to the Final Rounds of the NCAA Division II Men's Tennis Championship.
Hosting one half of the NCAA East Regional bracket inside the QC Indoor Tennis Bubble, the No. 27 nationally ranked and top-seeded Knights welcomed No. 4 seed Assumption University for a second-round showdown with a trip to Arizona on the line.
Queens secured the doubles point before claiming three straight singles victories, highlighted by junior
Tim Andersson (Linkoping, Sweden) clinching the match at No. 4 singles, as the Knights blanked the Greyhounds 4-0 to advance to the NCAA Finals for the third consecutive season.
Doubles Play
The Knights struck first at No. 1 doubles as the pairing of junior
Said Akbarov (Tashkent, Uzbekistan) and sophomore
Samuel Linck (Haarlem, Netherlands) earned a convincing 6-2 victory over Michele Elia and Igor Kubalka.
With the doubles point still hanging in the balance, Queens battled in tightly contested matches at the No. 2 and No. 3 courts. The tandem of senior
Lucas Foix Sotos (Javea, Spain) and Andersson allied from a 5-4 deficit at No. 3 doubles to secure a 7-5 win over Alec Pijnacker and Kristoffer Podenphan, giving the Knights a 1-0 advantage heading into singles play.
The No. 2 doubles contest featuring senior
Alexis Martin-Gibiard (Saint-Remy-de-Provence, France) and sophomore
Adam Laur (Boulogne Billancourt, France) against Luca Figueiredo and Luigi Bassani was left unfinished.
Singles Play
Leading 1-0, Queens wasted little time extending its advantage. Linck delivered a dominant performance at No. 6 singles, defeating Jakob Bordt in straight sets, 6-1, 6-2, to put the Knights ahead 2-0.
Martin-Gibiard followed with another strong showing at No. 5 singles, earning a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Bassani to move Queens within one point of victory.
With the Knights in complete control, Andersson sealed the regional title at No. 4 singles with a 6-2, 6-4 triumph over Kubalka, sending Queens to the Final Rounds for the third straight year and ninth time overall.
With the victory, 12th-year head coach
Somadi Druker and the Knights continue their historic season, improving to 22-2 overall.
NEXT UP
With the regional championship victory, Queens advances to the Final Rounds of the 2026 NCAA Division II Men's Tennis Championship in Surprise, Arizona. Additional tournament details and match information will be announced at a later date.
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