VALDOSTA, Ga. – The No. 6-ranked Valdosta State men's tennis team learned Friday morning that it is fourth in the first NCAA Division II South Region rankings, released by the national office.  
 
Barry leads the first rankings, followed by Embry-Riddle and Saint Leo is third.  VSU sits fourth, followed by Lynn, West Florida, Florida Southern, Delta State, West Alabama and Lee is tenth. The top eight teams in the final rankings released on Sunday, May 1 will advance to the NCAA South Regional.  The Selection Show will be broadcast on NCAA.com.
 
Benedict from the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) won the SIAC Championship last weekend and earned the automatic bid from the conference to the regional.  
 
The regional will be contested at two sites with four teams at each site and usually the top two seeds when the bracket is announced host each of the two locations of the regional.  The winners of each site will then play to advance to the National Championship Round, scheduled for May 17-21, 2022, at Sandlando Park in Altamonte Springs, Fla.  
 
This season against the region top ten, VSU has wins over Barry, Lynn, Delta State, West Alabama and Lee, along with losses to Embry-Riddle, Saint Leo and West Florida. VSU also has wins against non-region teams in North Georgia and a loss to Columbus State.  CSU leads the Southeast Region, while UNG is second in the same region.  Overall, the Blazers are 6-4 against regionally ranked teams this season.
 
VSU stands at 11-5 overall and 7-1 in Gulf South Conference play and will host Auburn Montgomery on Wed., Apr. 20 at 3 p.m. to close out the regular season.  
 
Check back with vstateblazers.com next Friday for the second NCAA Region Rankings announcement.