PENSACOLA, Fla. – Following the two victories over Delta State Monday, the Valdosta State men's and women's tennis teams dropped their first conference matches of the season at West Florida Tuesday.  The Blazer men, ranked No. 6 nationally fell 4-3, while the women's team lost to No. 24 West Florida, 4-3.
 
On the men's side, UWF won the doubles point with wins at Nos. 2 and 3 doubles, while VSU's No. 5-ranked duo of sophomores Luca Mack and Rodrigo Carvalho won at No. 1, 6-4. 
 
In singles, VSU won two of the three matches that went the distance as sophomore Christian Wedel won 7-6, 2-6, 7-5 at No. 4 singles and sophomore Cameron Henricy Trigolos won 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 at No. 6 singles.  UWF's No. 23-ranked Juan Cabrera won over Mack in three sets at No. 1, 6-2, 2-6, 6-2.  Carvalho won in straight-sets, 6-4, 6-4, over Bernardo Costa, but Facundo Bemejo, ranked No. 36, downed No. 72 Lamar Bartley at No. 2 singles, 6-4, 6-4 and UWF's Salvador Bandeira won at No. 5 singles over junior Christian Felline, 6-4, 6-3. 
 
The loss marked the first regular season Gulf South Conference loss for the Blazers since Mar. 29, 2018, at West Florida.  Since then, VSU had won 30-straight GSC matches.  No other team but West Florida has beaten VSU in regular season conference play since 2014. 
 
On the women's side, VSU also dropped the doubles point as UWF also won at Nos. 2 and 3, while Blazer sophomore Rachelle Starreveld and freshman Anastasiia Vorobiova won at No. 1, 6-3, over Karolina Silwanowicz and Nathalia Mossambani. 
 
Singles action saw VSU winning at Nos. 1, 3 and 5, including two matches in three sets.  Freshman Magda Tuells Bonet won at No. 1, 6-3, 6-3, over Sara Yigin, while freshman Elisa Beau won 6-2, 2-6, 1-0 in the super tiebreaker and freshman Adriana Barrio won 2-6, 6-4, 6-0 at No. 5 over Raissa Wagner.  UWF's No. 56 Irene Recuenco won 6-2, 6-4 over Vorobiova at No. 2, while Mossambani won at No. 4 over Starreveld, 6-4, 6-2 and Silwanowicz won at No. 6 over senior Hera Bjork Brynjarsdottir, 6-1, 6-2.
 
The Blazer tennis teams return home to host Lynn on Friday at 2 p.m. at the VSU Tennis Complex.