VALDOSTA, Ga. – The No. 5 Valdosta State men's tennis team opens the 2022 spring season Tuesday at 2 p.m. at Georgia College in Milledgeville, Ga.  
 
Released last week, the ITA Division II Men's Top 25 saw the Blazers fifth in the initial poll.  Defending national champion Barry University leads the poll and garnered all nine first-place votes.  National runner-up in 2021 Columbus State sits second, followed by Saint Leo at third.  Hawaii-Hilo is fourth and the Blazers round out the top five.  Gulf South Conference member West Florida is sixth, followed by Indianapolis, Lander (S.C.), Hawaii Pacific and North Georgia sits tenth. 
 
Highlighting the rest of the poll, GSC foe Delta State is 11^th, while Auburn Montgomery is 14^th and West Alabama is 25^th as the GSC has five teams ranked in the preseason top 25.  The Sunshine State Conference has four teams in the top 25 as the NCAA South Region has nine total teams ranked in the top 25 – also most of any region.  Along with Barry and Saint Leo, Lynn sits 13^th and Embry-Riddle is 15^th.  Rollins is among others receiving votes.  VSU is scheduled to face five teams in the preseason top ten this season and ten teams in the preseason top 25, along with Flagler who is receiving votes.  
 
The Blazers and the Bobcats' match was postponed last season and wasn't rescheduled.  VSU won its third-straight Gulf South Conference title last spring and 14^th overall under head coach John Hansen.  The Blazers ended the season with a 15-2 record overall and lost 4-1 at West Florida in the semifinal round of the NCAA South Regional in May.
 
Heading into the spring season, VSU sophomore Luca Mack is 12^th nationally in singles, while sophomore Rodrigo Carvalho is 29^th in singles, as the rankings were announced on Dec. 1, 2021, following the fall season.  In doubles, Mack/Carvalho are ranked No. 2 nationally. 
 
In the fall, Mack won his singles flight at the GSC Fall Tennis Championships, highlighting a strong performance by the Blazers.  Mack and Carvalho finished runner-up at the Fall ITA Cup, falling in three sets to Columbus State duo of Tomaso Schold and Pietro Martinetti, 7-5, 2-6, 1-6.  Mack/Carvalho won the ITA South Region Championship in September.
 
Hansen welcomes back five players from last year, including sophomore Christian Wedel as he earned first team all-conference honors last season.  Sophomore Cameron Henricy Trigolos, junior Christian Felline and sophomore Edward Etty also return.  This spring the Blazers added the services of freshman Lamar Bartley, a transfer from Tyler Junior College (Texas) where he was the No. 1-ranked player in junior college in 2020 and part of the top doubles team in the country.  In 2021, Bartley was No. 2 in the nation.  Graduate student Swann Flohr also joins the team.  
 
Georgia College went 4-7 last season and 2-5 in the Peach Belt and is under the direction of head coach Steve Barsby.  The Blazers and the Bobcats last play on Feb. 7, 2020, with VSU winning in Valdosta, 4-0.  VSU has won six of the last eight meetings in the series, but dropped a 4-3 decision on Feb. 6, 2019, in Milledgeville.  Prior to that, VSU had won five-straight in the series.  
 
The Bobcats were picked fifth in the PBC Preseason Poll and return sophomore Enzo Sergi who went 5-4 last season in singles and 3-3 in league play.  Paired with former Bobcat Matt Rogel, the duo went 3-7 in doubles at the top spot in the lineup.  Also returning is doubles tandem of Sebastian Nunez and Lukas Zavrel who went 2-4 in doubles.  Former Blazer standout Robert Cizek has a brother who is a freshman this season for the Bobcats, Gabriel Cizek.  
 
Check back following the match for a complete recap and stats.  The Blazers then open the 2022 home slate Friday, Feb. 11 at 2 p.m. versus No. 10 North Georgia at the VSU Tennis Courts.