MIAMI SHORES, Fla. – It took over three hours to determine a winner on Monday in Miami Shores, Fla., but the Valdosta State men's tennis team made the wait worthwhile with a 5-4 comeback victory over No. 7 Barry to earn a trip to the NCAA Division II Men's Tennis National Tournament in Denver, Colo.
 
The No. 8 ranked Blazers (17-6) fell behind in doubles action to start the day after Niklas Herbring and Jordi Mas dropped an 8-4 matchup to Ahmed Triki and Renato Lombardi at No. 1. Gereon Heitmann teamed up with Fernando Rivas at No. 3 and put up a tremendous fight during a 7-9 defeat at the hands of Franco Echenique and Nico Dreer, but Leo Blay and Xavier Pineda salvaged doubles competition with an 8-6 victory over Fabian Pronnet and Flavio Matteoli at No. 2.
 
The Buccaneers' (14-7) lead at the break sparked a fire under the Blazers in singles play, starting with Heitmann, who secured a 6-3, 5-7, 6-1 win at No. 2 over Dreer. Moments later, Barry reclaimed a 3-2 advantage at No. 4 with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 win for Renato Lombardi over Mas, but Herbring evened the match up yet again with a 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 triumph at No. 5.
 
Triki overtook Blay at No. 1, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, before Rivas returned fire for Valdosta State at No. 3 singles with a 6-4, 1-6, 6-1 win over Pronnet to knot the match up at 4-4. Needing a win at No. 6 to send his squad to Nationals, Pineda answered the call with a 6-0, 2-6, 6-4 victory over Echenique.
 
The win marks a return to the round of 16 for the Blazers, which is slated for May 18-21. The appearance at the DII National Championships will be the first for VSU since the team won the national championship in 2011.
 
The Blazers are scheduled to return to Valdosta in the Sustella Parking Lot at The Complex on Monday night between 11:00 – 11:30 p.m., where Blazer Nation is encouraged to gather and welcome the team home from Miami.