VALDOSTA, Ga. – The Valdosta State women's tennis team opens the 2020 season Friday at 2 p.m., versus Georgia College at the VSU Tennis Complex.  VSU begins with four matches in five days to start the season.
 
The Blazers then will face Georgia Gwinnett on Saturday at 9 a.m., followed by a match with No. 5 Nova Southeastern Sunday at 1 p.m., and Shorter on Tuesday at 2 p.m., all at the VSU Tennis Complex.  
 
VSU is coming off a 7-14 record last season and a 6-5 mark in the Gulf South Conference.  The Blazers qualified for the GSC semifinals last season, losing to top-seed West Alabama.  VSU returns six players from last season and has added the services of two freshmen in Julia Saving and Rachelle Starreveld.  
 
In 2019, then-junior and now senior Estee Widdershoven earned first team all-conference honors for the Blazers as she went 9-8 overall in singles and 8-2 in GSC play at the top spot in the lineup.  She went 5-3 in doubles and 4-3 in GSC play with former Blazer Daniella Barta at the top spot.  
 
Also returning this season is sophomore Birte Langestein, who went 8-8 at the No. 3 spot in the lineup and 6-4 in GSC play, while sophomore Eva Rivoal also returns as she was 5-5 in league play last season in singles.  Juniors Hera Bork Brynjarsdottir and Amelia Cornwall also return, along with sophomore Rachel Chan-Yaneff.  
 
Georgia College opens the season at Valdosta State on Friday, as the Bobcats went 14-8 last season and 5-4 in the Peach Belt Conference, losing in the league semifinals.  Last season, Kim Yatribi went 13-7 in singles returns, while sophomore Emma Fleming returns as an All-PBC doubles player.  In all four Bobcats return for this season and features two newcomers as well.  The Bobcats downed VSU 7-0 last season in Milledgeville, Ga., in the season-opener for both teams.
 
Nova Southeastern is No. 5 in the latest ITA Rankings and opens the season with No. 14 Flagler on Tuesday, before heading to Valdosta to face Georgia College on Saturday and VSU on Sunday.  The Sharks return Natalie Espinal, who is ranked fourth nationally in the ITA Singles rankings, while teammate Daniela Obando is 38^th nationally.  In doubles, Espinal and Sarah Wardenburg are the top-ranked duo in the ITA rankings.
 
The Sharks went 22-5 last season and lost to No. 3-seed Lynn in the second round of the NCAA South Regional.  NSU defeated VSU 7-0 last season in Valdosta on Feb. 9.  
 
Georgia Gwinnett enters the week with a 1-0 record after a 7-0 win at NCAA Division II Lander on Monday.  The Grizzlies also will face NCAA Division II No. 7 West Florida on Sunday at 2 p.m. in Valdosta.  
 
The Grizzlies have won the past four national championships at the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) level.  Georgia Gwinnett has three of the top four singles players in Maria Genovese (No. 2), Madeline Bosnjak (No. 3) and Tereza Koplova (Nov. 4) in the final fall ITA rankings.  Yelyzaveta Velykorodna is 13^th in the rankings and Gabrielle Robinson is 33^rd.  In doubles, the tandem of Bosnjak and Genovese are second nationally, while Koplova and Robinson are 12^th in the rankings.
 
Shorter will open its season on Feb. 8 against Fort Valley State, before heading to Valdosta for Tuesday's match.  The Hawks went 3-16 last season and 0-11 in Gulf South Conference play.  VSU won last season's meeting in Rome, Ga., 7-0, on Mar. 15. 
 
Following the Shorter match, VSU will make its first road trip of the season on Feb. 24 at Rollins.