VALDOSTA, Ga. – Coming off a season-opening 6-1 victory last week at Georgia College, the No. 5 Valdosta State men's tennis team returns home to open the 2022 home slate Friday afternoon at 2 p.m. versus No. 10 North Georgia at the VSU Tennis Courts. 
 
The Blazers swept the doubles point against GC, dropping just five games total.   No. 2-ranked duo of sophomores Luca Mack and Rodrigo Carvalho won 6-2 over Gabriel Cizek and Enzo Sergi to clinch the point at the top spot in the lineup.
 
In singles, Mack, who was named Gulf South Conference Player of the Week Wednesday, won at No. 1 singles with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Cizek.  Mack entered the spring No. 12 nationally in the ITA Division II Men's Tennis rankings.  Carvalho won 6-3, 6-3 at No. 3 singles as he is 29^th nationally in singles.  In all, VSU won five of six singles matches and all six matches were in straight-sets.
 
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 joined the team.
 
VSU won the only previous meeting between the two teams last season in Valdosta with a 4-1 victory on Feb. 7, 2021.  VSU won two of three doubles matches to earn the team point and Mack clinched the match at No. 4 singles with a 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 win over Zach Waldow.  
 
The Nighthawks enter the match with a 2-0 record after a 7-0 home victory over Anderson on Wednesday and a 4-3 win at Carson-Newman on Feb. 6.  In doubles, UNG is led by Ryan Gaskin and Sebastian Murillo who are No. 20 nationally, while Joaquin Benoit and Waldow are No. 6 in the region and Cole Brainard/Daniel Ostap are No. 8 in the region.  In singles, Benoit is No. 2 nationally, while Gaskin is No. 26 nationally and Murillo is No. 16 in the region.  
 
North Georgia was picked second in the Peach Belt Conference preseason poll, while Benoit and Gaskin were named to the preseason all-conference team.  Benoit finished runner-up at the ITA Cup in the fall and was named ITA Southeast Region Rookie of the Year in 2021.  
 
Following the match, VSU has a week off before it travels to No. 15 Embry-Riddle on Feb. 18 at 2 p.m. in Daytona Beach, Fla.  
 
Check back with vstateblazers.com for a complete recap and stats of Friday's match and follow the men's tennis page all season long.