DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The No. 14 Valdosta State men's tennis team downed No. 18 Embry-Riddle, 4-1, Thursday afternoon in a makeup match from earlier in February.  It was the first win of the season for the Blazers as both teams now are 1-3. 
 
Embry-Riddle battled back at the top spot in doubles as Blazer duo of junior Yohan Nguyen and freshman Florian Simbozel led Juan Ortiz Couder and Andrew Donayre 5-4 and 6-5, but the ERAU duo tied the set at six and won the tiebreaker 7-5 to earn the team point.  ERAU won at No. 3, while VSU tandem of junior Jordi Mas and junior Xavier Pineda won at No. 2, 6-4, over Alexis Guedy and Andrej Omeragic.
 
VSU tied the proceedings at one as Pineda, who is ranked No. 19 nationally, downed Lucas Bos in straight sets, 6-1, 6-0.  Mas, the No. 3-ranked player in the nation, defeated No. 22 Couder in a first set tiebreak, 7-6 (7-2) and Couder retired before the second set began and a 2-1 Blazer lead.
 
At No. 3, Nguyen defeated Guedy, 6-2, 6-2, while clinching the match at No. 2 as SImbozel battled back from a 4-6 loss in the first set for the only three set match of the day as he won 6-4, 6-4 in the final two sets for the win. 
 
VSU junior Alex Holm and Mickael Faucher, at No. 5, never started and freshman Robert Cizek and Omeragic were tied at 6-6 in the first set when the match was clinched.
 
The Blazers return to action Mar. 7 at home for the 2019 home-opener against Division I Austin Peay (Tenn.) at 2 p.m. at the VSU Tennis Courts.