VALDOSTA, Ga. – Following its 6-1 victory over then-No. 10 North Georgia, the Valdosta State men's tennis team moved to No. 2 in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Top 25, released Thursday.
Columbus State takes over the top spot this week, moving from No. 2, while the Blazers moved up three spots following the 2-0 start to the spring season. Lynn sits third, jumping ten spots from 13th, followed by Hawaii Pacific at fourth and previous No. 1 Barry rounds out the top five.
West Florida remained sixth this week, while Embry-Riddle moved from 15th to seventh as it defeated then-No. 3 Saint Leo last week. Indianapolis sits eighth, followed by Saint Leo and Lander rounds out the top ten.
The Blazers head to Daytona Beach, Fla., to battle Embry-Riddle on Friday, Feb. 18 at 2 p.m. in a matchup of two top eight teams. Check back with vstateblazers.com for complete stats and a recap following the match.
North Georgia fell one spot to 11th this week, followed by Azusa Pacific, Southern Arkansas, Northwest Missouri State and Hawaii Hilo is 15th. Gulf South Conference foe Delta State is 16th, followed by Ouachita Baptist, Flagler, Biola and UT Tyler round out the top 20. Charleston (W.Va.) is 21st, followed by Washburn, GSC foe Auburn Montgomery, Wingate and Concordia (Calif.) completes the top 25. West Alabama of the GSC is among others receiving votes.
VSU, who traditionally has a very formidable schedule and 2022 is no different. The Blazers already played a ranked UNG team and has matches this season at No. 7 Embry-Riddle (Feb. 18), No. 9 Saint Leo (Mar. 1), vs. No. 5 Barry (Mar. 7 in Orlando), at No. 18 Flagler (Mar. 12), at No. 6 West Florida (Mar. 15), vs. No. 16 Delta State (Mar. 21 in Pensacola), at home against No. 3 Lynn (Mar. 25), at No. 1 Columbus State (Apr. 13) and at home against No. 23 Auburn Montgomery (Apr. 20). VSU also faces West Alabama this season for a total of 11 matches against teams ranked in this week's poll or receiving votes.
Following the match against Embry-Riddle, VSU returns home to host Keiser, on Feb. 24, at 2 p.m. at the VSU Tennis Courts. Keiser is one of the top programs in NAIA.
