VALDOSTA, Ga. – The No. 19-ranked Valdosta State men's tennis team returns to the courts Saturday morning at 10 a.m. versus Rollins College at the VSU Tennis Complex.
The Blazers (2-2, 1-0 GSC) haven't played since a 7-0 win over Shorter in the Gulf South Conference opener on Feb. 11. Rollins enters with a 1-3 record and 0-2 mark in the Sunshine State Conference.
The Tars are among others receiving votes in the latest ITA Tennis Rankings and will face No. 3 West Florida in Valdosta on Friday, before facing the Blazers. Rollins has dropped its last two matches to No. 11 Lynn (4-3) and No. 24 Embry-Riddle (7-0). Rollins' lone win came against Florida National (5-2), while it dropped the season-opener against Flagler, 5-2.
In doubles, Mikkel Baumann and Freddy Danielson are 3-0 this season at the No. 3 position to lead the team, while Andrea Brignacca and Atakan Gezer are 2-1 with a 1-1 record at the top spot and a 1-0 record at the No. 2 spot. Brignacca is 3-0 in singles to lead the team with wins at Nos. 4, 5, and 6, while Gezer is 2-1, going 1-1 at No. 3 and 1-0 at No. 4.
VSU has won five of the last six matches with Rollins since 2011, including four-straight. The Blazers downed Rollins 5-0 in Miami Shores, Fla., on Apr. 29, 2017, in the last meeting. This is the first time Rollins has come to Valdosta since VSU won 8-1 on Feb. 21, 2015.
The Blazers are led in doubles by the top two spots in the lineup, who each are 3-0. Top duo of senior
Yohan Nguyen and junior
Florian Simbozel are 3-0, while freshmen tandem of
Edward Etty and
Luca Mack also are 3-0 at No. 2. Junior
Adam Kalivoda and sophomore
Robert Cizek are 2-1 at No. 3.
In singles, Nguyen, who is ranked seventh nationally in the final fall ITA rankings, is 3-0 at the top spot in the lineup. Simbozel also is 3-0 at the No. 2 position, while Etty is 2-1 at No. 4 and 2-2 overall. Mack is 2-1 on the year with a 1-1 mark at the No. 3 position and 0-1 at No. 4.
Following the match, VSU continues is nine-match home stand to begin the season on Feb. 28 at 2 p.m. versus No. 25 Embry-Riddle.
