DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The No. 2 Valdosta State men's tennis team dropped its first match of the season, falling 5-2 at No. 7 Embry-Riddle in matchup of top ten teams Friday afternoon.  VSU fell to 2-1 on the year, while ERAU improved to 4-1. 
 
The Eagles swept all three doubles matches, including Juan Ortiz Couder and Andres Donayre upsetting the No. 2-ranked tandem of sophomores Rodrigo Carvalho and Luca Mack, 6-3. 
 
VSU battled back as reigning Gulf South Conference freshman of the Week Lamar Bartley backed up his honor with a strong 6-1, 6-1 victory at No. 2 singles over Donayre for a 1-1 score.  In a battle of ranked opponents at the No. 3 position, No. 21 Alexis Guedy downed No. 29 Carvalho, 6-2, 7-6 (8-6) for a 2-1 lead.  Couder, ranked No. 38, upset No. 12 Mack in three sets, 4-6, 7-6, 6-4 for a 3-1 lead. 
 
From there, Blazer sophomore Christian Wedel battled back from a 7-6 loss in the first set at No. 4 to Michele Iftimie with a 6-4 victory in the second set, but lost 7-5 in the third as ERAU clinched the match.  The third singles match to go three sets was at No. 5 as Alvao Diaz Rodrigo defeated junior Christian Felline, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 for a 5-1 lead, but the Blazers finished with a victory at No. 6 as sophomore Cameron Henricy Trigolos won in straight sets, 6-1, 6-2 over Tim Loerwink. 
 
The Blazers return home to host No. 1-ranked Keiser University (NAIA) on Feb. 24 at 2 p.m. at the VSU Tennis Courts.