VALDOSTA, Ga. – Facing a familiar foe for the third time this season, the No. 5-seed Valdosta State men's tennis team and the No. 4 seed West Florida square off for the second-straight season in the NCAA South Regional Monday at 1 p.m., on the campus of Barry University. 
 
The top-seeded Buccaneers, ranked No. 2 in the latest ITA Men's Tennis Rankings, hosts Benedict in the first match on Monday at 9 a.m.  The winners move onto Tuesday's regional final match, scheduled for a 10 a.m. start, with the winner advancing to the NCAA Division II Men's Tennis National Championship Rounds at Sanlando Park in Altamonte Springs, Fla., May 18-22.   
 
The other half of the regional pits No. 2-seed Embry-Riddle versus No. 7-seed Florida Southern and No. 3-seed Saint Leo versus No. 6-seed Lynn.  The South Region #2 will be hosted by ERAU in Daytona Beach, Fla.  The winner of that side of the bracket also advances to Altamonte Springs. 
 
This is the 27^th time VSU has qualified for the NCAA postseason and is 52-24 all-time in the championship with two national titles (2006 & 2011) and three runner-up finishes.  This marks the eighth-straight time (no tournament in 2020 due to COVID-19) VSU has qualified for the NCAA postseason and the 52 victories are fifth-most in NCAA Division II. 
 
Moreover, the Blazers' side of the bracket might be one of the most outstanding in all of the field this year as VSU, Barry and UWF have combined for a 208-66 record including 73 trips to the tournament, 11 national titles between the trio and runner-up a combined 12 times and third nine times. 
 
Click here or on the link to the right for the NCAA South Regional Championship website for information on links to live stats and streaming of the matches.  You will have scroll down past the women's regional to find the men's information.
 
The Blazers are 14-6 on the year and went 8-1 in Gulf South Conference play, finishing as Gulf South Conference runner-up with a 4-1 loss to West Florida in the GSC Championship match on Apr. 30, in Montgomery, Ala.  VSU enters the regional ranked No. 8 in the latest ITA Rankings and features the top-ranked doubles tandem in the country in sophomores Rodrigo Carvalho and Luca Mack.  The duo is 16-7 this year against Division II competition and went 10-7 this spring at the top spot in the lineup, while going 5-2 in league play. 
 
Mack is ninth nationally in singles with a 19-5 record this season and a 14-5 mark this spring, including winning nine-straight matches.  Carvalho is 48^th nationally in singles with a 14-5 record this year, including going 14-4 this spring and 7-2 in GSC play mostly at the No. 2 position.  Freshman Lamar Bartley is No. 70^th nationally at 8-5 this year against D2 schools and 10-6 this spring, while going 4-2 in league play.  He has won five-straight matches.  Sophomore Christian Wedel is 16-3 this spring in singles mainly at the No.4 spot and went a perfect 9-0 in league play.  Sophomore Cameron Henricy Trigolos is 11-5 this spring and went 8-0 in league play mostly at No. 6, while junior Christian Felline was 8-10 this spring and 5-3 in the GSC.
 
The Blazers had four players earn All-GSC honors this season as Mack, Carvalho and Wedel were first team selections, while Bartley was a second team honoree.  Not surprisingly, UWF and VSU led the way with four selections each on the all-conference teams as UWF's Juan Cabrera was named GSC Player of the Year and Argo head coach Derrick Racine was named Coach of the Year.  Along with Cabrera on the first team, Facundo Bermejo earned first team honors, along with Tomas Descarrega.  Bernardo Costa earned second team honors. 
 
West Florida (20-6) enters at No. 11 nationally and qualified for its 25^th-straight NCAA postseason appearance.  UWF downed VSU 4-3 during the regular season and 4-1 in the conference tournament final.  The teams also met last season in the NCAA postseason with UWF winning 4-1 in Pensacola, Fla.  Prior to that, VSU won the regular season match a year ago and also won the conference tournament final for its third-straight league title and a GSC record 14^th conference tournament title in 2021. 
 
The Argos have been outstanding at doubles this season as they have won the team point twenty times.  As of the last rankings, Cabrera is 14^th nationally with a 17-4 record against D2 competition this season and 17-4 overall at the top spot.  Bermejo and Descarrega are 15-3 in doubles and No. 18 nationally at the top spot. 
 
As mentioned before, this marks the second-straight season the teams have met in the NCAA postseason as UWF leads the series 6-1 in the NCAA Tournament.  The Blazers' lone victory over the Argos came in the regional final in 2011 when VSU won its last national title in men's tennis.  Since, UWF has won the last four meetings in the tournament. 
 
Barry enters with a 16-5 record this season and one of those losses was to VSU in Orlando as the Blazers handed the Buccaneers a 4-3 setback in thrilling fashion.  It marked the first victory over Barry since May 9, 2016, in the NCAA regional.  It also was the first victory over the Buccaneers in the regular season since Feb. 25, 2011, in Valdosta.  Prior to the match this season, Barry had won 11 of 12 and five-straight in the series.  VSU won the top four singles matches to claim the match as singles was played first due to the threat of rain.  Currently, the Buccaneers have four players ranked in the Top 75 in the ITA singles rankings and three in doubles.  Benedict enters with a 15-4 record after winning the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) earning the league's automatic bid. 
 
Check back with vstateblazers.com following the match Monday for a complete recap and stats.