DAHLONEGA – The No. 10 University of North Georgia Men's Tennis team cruised to a 5-0 victory over Georgia College in the first round of the 2024 Peach Belt Conference Men's Tennis Tournament Friday afternoon. With the win, the Nighthawks advance to the semifinals where they will take on second-seeded and No. 6 Columbus State tomorrow, Saturday, Apr. 27 at 1 p.m. 

UNG stuck with what worked just six days prior in helping it beat the Bobcats 7-0 on Senior Day in Dahlonega. On Friday, the Nighthawks took the doubles point early in the match to put themselves in the driver's seat.

Senior Giulio Sassi and freshman Marcos Castellanos rolled to a 6-4 victory in the #2 doubles match while senior Christopher Cahour and sophomore Tyler Cunningham won the #3 match to clinch the point. The #1 doubles match did not finish before the Nighthawks had clinched. 

Then, in singles, PBC Co-Player of the Year and Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) No. 31 men's singles player Joaquin Benoit rolled to a 6-2, 6-1 victory. The senior picked up his team-high 13th singles win in the match.

The #2 and #3 singles matches with Sassi and junior Robin Eldin could not finish before the Nighthawks won the #4, #5 and #6 matches almost simultaneously.

Cahour went 6-2, 6-0 for the victory in the #4 spot, while Castellanos cruised to a 6-3, 6-1 win as the #5 singles competitor. 

Moments later, sophomore Eliseo Alcalde picked up his 12th singles win of the year in the #6 match with a 6-0, 6-3 victory. 

Now UNG looks ahead to the Cougars, who took down the Nighthawks 5-2 in the regular season. That match was just seven days ago, and revenge is fresh on UNG's mind. The Nighthawks have never beaten Columbus State in the program's 18-year history. 

Should they do so Saturday, they would advance to the PBC Championship for the first time in school history.