COLUMBUS, Ga. – The No. 19 University of North Georgia (UNG) men’s tennis team defeated No. 36 Augusta in the Quarterfinals of the 2025 Peach Belt Conference Tournament in Columbus, Ga. Friday morning.
The Nighthawks (11-6) blanked the Jaguars (12-8) by a 4-0 score after winning the doubles point and three singles matches.
UNG advances to the semifinals for the fourth time in the last five years. It is there the Nighthawks will face second-seeded and host No. 16 Columbus State (CSU).
On Friday UNG jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the overall match after a clutch doubles win.
With the two teams having split the #1 and #3 doubles contests, the momentum in the match would be decided by the #2 doubles match.
In that match, Nighthawk junior Pedro Liborio and freshman Janos Varga paired together for a thrilling 7-6 (7-2 tiebreaker) victory to secure the doubles point for UNG.
Liborio, ranked as the No. 26 men’s singles player nationally by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), went on to defeat Augusta’s Alex Bailhache 6-2, 6-3 in the #1 singles match to put the Nighthawks ahead 2-0 overall.
Then junior Eliseo Alcalde secured his fourth singles win of the year with a 6-4, 6-3 triumph over Humberto Pinto in the #6 slot.
Finally, freshman Juan Cruz Blanco clinched the match for UNG by taking down Enzo Sakiyama 7-6 (7-0 tiebreaker), 6-2 in the #5 singles match to secure the 4-0 victory.
The win marked the third time the Nighthawks have shut out an opponent this season.
They now look to exact revenge against CSU after suffering a heartbreaking, 4-3 loss to the Cougars in the regular-season meeting back on April 14. A victory would put UNG through to the tournament championship for the first time in program history.
