VALDOSTA, Ga. – Starting the match 90 minutes late on Saturday was no problem for the Valdosta State men's and women's tennis teams as they defeated Delta State in Gulf South Conference play at the VSU Tennis Courts.  The No. 15 Blazer men's tennis team defeated the No. 19 Statesmen, 5-2, while the VSU women's team won its first match of the season with a 4-3 victory over the Lady Statesmen.
 
In a clash of top twenty teams, the Blazer men's team won the doubles point behind victories at the top two positions as freshmen Edward Etty and Luca Mack won 6-2 at No. 2 over Hugo Stroppiana and Franco Osmar Roldan after DSU's tandem of Leo De Sousa and Come Bracaval won at No. 3 over freshman Christian Wedel and Cameron Henricy Trigolos, 6-1.  It all came down to the top spot to clinch the doubles point as VSU's duo of senior Yohan Nguyen and junior Florian Simbozel defeated Emile Le Terrier and Trey Seymour 7-5.
 
Mack won in straight sets at No. 4 over Seymour, 6-2, 6-1, for a 2-0 VSU lead.  The Statesmen pulled within 2-1 at No. 6 as Emilano del Arco downed Etty, 6-4, 6-4.  Simbozel needed a pair of tiebreakers at No. 2 for a 3-1 VSU lead as he defeated Stroppiana 7-6 (7-4) and 7-6 (8-6).  Nguyen needed three sets to defeat Le Terrier at the top spot, 6-4, 6-7 (9-11), 6-3 to clinch the match.  Wedel also won in three sets at No. 3 over De Sousa, 6-3, 4-6 7-5 for a 5-1 score.  Bracaval defeated Trigolos in the final match, 6-7, 6-4, 13-11. 
 
VSU improved to 4-0 on the year and 2-0 in Gulf South Conference play, while DSU fell to 5-2 and 0-1 in league play.
 
On the women's side, the Blazers won their first match of the season in arguably their best performance thus far, improving to 1-3 on the year and 1-1 in GSC play.  Despite the 4-3 score, the match never got to 3-3.  DSU got within 3-2, but VSU junior Hera Bjork Brynjarsdottir sealed the victory at No. 5 with a 6-4, 6-4 victory. 
 
VSU won the doubles points with wins at Nos. 1 and 2 as senior Estee Widdershoven and freshman Rachelle Starreveld made quick work of Sofia Colvee and Alena Macharova, 6-0. DSU's No. 3 tandem of Kath Valencia and Valentine Colin defeated Brynsjarsdottir and junior Amelia Cornwell, 6-2, but sophomore Birte Langenstein and freshman Julia Saving won at No. 2, 6-4, to claim the team point over Sofia Pepe and Manuela Impeciati.
 
The Lady Statesmen tied the match at 1-1 with Valencia's victory at No. 6 singles over Cornwell, 6-3, 6-2.  VSU regained the lead as Starreveld turned back Pepe at No. 2, 6-2, 6-1. Widdershoven put VSU up 3-1 with a 6-3, 7-6 (7-2) victory at the top spot over Macharova.  Impeciati downed Saving at No. 4, 6-3, 6-1, but Brynjarsdottir won the match for VSU at No. 5.  Colin defeated Langenstein at No. 3 in three sets, 5-7, 7-6, 10-6, for the final 4-3 margin.
 
The Blazers and Lady Blazers continue at home with non-conference matches versus Washburn (Kan.) on Thursday, Mar. 11 at 2 p.m., followed by road matches at Shorter (Mar. 12) and at Lee (Mar. 13) for three matches in three days.