VALDOSTA, Ga. - The Blazers of Valdosta State put up a hard fight against one of the nation's best on Friday afternoon in Valdosta, but the No. 3 Barry Bucs prevailed 5-0 in NCAA Division II South Region men's tennis action at the VSU Tennis Courts.
In doubles play, the Blazers got off to a slow start, beginning with an 8-5 loss at No. 1 for
Ramon Weil and
Gereon Heitmann to Barry's team of Fabian Groetsch and Ahmed Triki. Nico Dreer and Kevin Sielmann overcame
Francisco Yim Kim and
Niklas Herbring 8-1 at No. 2, and
Leo Blay and
Edward Nguyen fell to Franco Echenique and Dominik Haider at No. 3.
Blay led at No. 1 and both Heitmann and Nguyen were tied in singles action at No. 4 and No. 6, respectively. But the match came to its conclusion early after Triki defeated Herbring 7-5, 6-2 at No. 2 and Haider finished off the afternoon with a 7-6(4), 6-4 win over Weil at No. 5.
The No. 10 Blazers fell to 3-2 on the season after the defeat, while Barry bumped their record to a perfect 5-0.
Valdosta State continues their weekend at home on Sunday with a Gulf South Conference matchup against the nation's top ranked West Florida Argonauts. Action is set to begin at noon at the VSU Tennis Courts.
