VALDOSTA, Ga. – In a match that had just about everything and the intensity of postseason play, the No. 6 Valdosta State men's tennis team battled back from a 3-1 deficit for a 4-3 victory over top-ranked Barry Sunday afternoon.
Barry (6-2) won the doubles point winning at Nos. 1 and 2, and took an early 3-1 lead in the team score, before the Blazers rallied as senior
Christian Felline won the first set at No. 5 over Arnau Rodriguez 6-3, while Rodriguez won the second set (7-5). Felline led 4-3 in the third set, but was down Love-40 before rattling off four-straight points for a 5-3 lead. He then broke Rodriguez for the thrilling victory in front of a large contingent of Blazer fans on a beautiful day in Titletown.
The Blazers (3-0) won for the second-straight season versus Barry as they downed the Buccaneers in Orlando last season, 4-3.
Doubles started off well for the Blazers early as junior
Pedro Cordeiro and junior
Christian Wedel downed Adam Lynch and Bastien Rieme at No. 3, 6-2. Barry's duo of Alejandro Palacios and Alessandro Giuliato won at No. 2, 6-2. Coming down to the top spot, VSU duo of juniors
Luca Mack and
Rodrigo Carvalho held a 4-3 lead on Alejandro Ibanez Gallego and Arnau Rodriguez, but the Barry tandem won three-straight games for a 6-4 victory as the Buccaneers won the doubles point.
Both teams won three opening sets in singles, but Barry's David Rieme won at No. 6 singles over Cordeiro, 6-2, 6-2, for a 2-0 Buccaneer lead. Carvalho won the first set 7-5 and held a 4-0 lead in the second set at No. 2 over Giuliato and Mack posted a 6-3 opening set victory over Ibanez Gallego at the top spot in a matchup of two ranked players. Mack entered as the No. 2 singles player nationally, while Ibanez Gallego is 11
th. Wedel forced a third set at No. 4 after dropping the first to Alessio Demichelis, 6-2 and won the second 6-4. Rodriguez came back after a 6-3 loss in the opening set to Felline for a 7-5 victory to force a third set, while Mack lost the second set 6-3 for a third set as well.
Carvalho won at No. 2 singles for a 2-1 deficit with a 7-5, 6-2, victory over No. 42 Giuliato. Bartley battled back to force a tiebreaker in the second set at No. 3 against Palacios, but Palacios won 7-6, after winning the first set 6-2, for a 3-1 lead, with three matches in the third set. Wedel won the third set at No. 4, 6-3, just before Mack won 6-1 at the top spot for a 3-3 score prior to Felline's heroics.
The Blazers continue at home on Thursday as they will battle Tuskegee at 2 p.m., at the VSU Tennis Complex. VSU had Columbus State on the schedule for Tues., Mar. 7, but the match was postponed and will be potentially rescheduled at a later date.
