VALDOSTA, Ga. – The No. 19-ranked Valdosta State men's tennis team opens the 2020 season with No. 6 Lander Sunday at 1 p.m. at the VSU Tennis Complex.
The Blazers finished the 2019 season with a 16-4 record and went a perfect 10-0 in Gulf South Conference play, winning the program's league-best 13
th conference title. The Blazers hosted a portion of the NCAA South Regional where they downed No. 11 Saint Leo 4-0 and lost 4-2 to No. 7 West Florida in May.
VSU returns three of the six players from last year's squad, including senior
Yohan Nguyen, who is ranked No. 7 in D2 singles in the preseason ITA rankings. He went 17-2 last season and 10-0 in conference play in singles at the No. 3 spot in the lineup earning first team all-conference honors. He won 16-straight dual matches to close the season. Nguyen was paired in doubles with former Blazer
Axel Holm at the top spot and went 8-3 for the season and 3-3 in league play in doubles.
Also returning this season is junior
Florian Simbozel, who earned second team all-conference honors last season as he was 9-8 in singles at the No. 2 position. Simbozel and former Blazer
Jordi Mas went 14-1 and 8-1 in league play in doubles at the No. 2 slot a season ago. Sophomore
Robert Cizek also returns as he was 9-8 last season in singles at the No. 6 spot and 4-4 in league play. Cizek was paired with both Holm and former Blazer Xavi Pineda last season in doubles.
Mas, who earned ITA All-America honors last season graduated as he was a four-time all-conference selection during his outstanding career for the Blazers. Mas finished 10-7 last season in duals and 7-2 in league play at the top spot in the lineup, while he and Cizek were a team-best 14-1 in doubles at the No. 2 position. Pineda went 12-5 in singles at the No. 4 position last season, earning second team all-conference honors, while Holm was 9-4 at the No. 5 spot.
VSU head coach
John Hansen has replaced Holm, Mas and Pineda with three talented newcomers in two freshmen and one transfer. Junior
Adam Kalivoda comes to Titletown from South Carolina State. He is a native of Praha, Czech Republic. The freshmen are
Edward Etty (Horn, The Netherlands) and
Luca Mack (Emmedingen, Germany).
Lander is ranked sixth nationally after it went 18-6 last season and 7-2 in the Peach Belt Conference. The Bearcats went 1-1 in the NCAA Southeast Regional with a 4-3 win over Flagler and a 4-0 loss to Columbus State.
The Bearcats return four players from last season as Axel Cronje went 9-10 in duals and 4-3 in PBC play, while Thomas De Negri went 13-4 in duals and 6-2 in league play. Adam Elliget was 6-1 in singles and Tommaso Rossin was 8-5 in singles. In doubles the tandem of Cronje and Elliget went 14-4 last season at the top spot and 7-2 in league play. This season, the Elliget/Cronje duo is ranked third nationally in the preseason ITA rankings for doubles.
Following the Lander match, VSU has its next eight matches all at home through Mar. 7. VSU then has just one match at home the rest of the season versus Alabama Huntsville on Apr. 1. The Blazers return to the court Friday, Feb. 7 at 2 p.m. versus Georgia College, who is receiving votes in the preseason poll.
