MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The top-seeded and No. 2-ranked Valdosta State men's tennis team downed No. 8-seed Shorter, 4-0, on Thursday afternoon in the quarterfinal round of the 2023 Gulf South Conference Men's Tennis Championships.
 
The Blazers advance to face No. 5-seed and No. 12-ranked Lee on Friday at 3:30 p.m. ET in the semifinal round as Lee upset No. 4-seed West Alabama, 4-0.  On the other side of the bracket, No. 2-seed West Florida will battle No. 3-seed Auburn Montgomery.  VSU improved to a staggering 70-18 all-time in the GSC Championship with the win over Shorter and will be looking for its 27^th tournament championship match appearance if it can defeat Lee Friday. 
 
VSU now is a perfect 15-0 this season, while Lee enters at 14-4 and the Flames are looking for their first appearance in the championship match. VSU defeated Lee in Cleveland, Tenn., earlier this season in a hard-fought 5-2 victory on Mar. 29.  This will be the fourth time VSU and Lee have met in the GSC postseason with VSU leading 3-0.  Lee is 2-6 all-time in the GSC postseason tournament The Blazers won 4-0 last season in the quarterfinal round.  This also marks Lee's second trip to the semifinals as VSU defeated the Flames in the second round in 2019. 
 
Click here for the GSC Championship Central. 
 
The Blazers started off quickly against Shorter (2-10) Thursday as they wasted no time in getting off to a fast start.  Mixing up the lineup a little bit today, juniors Pedro Cordeiro and Christian Wedel won 6-0 at No. 2 doubles, while junior Edward Etty and graduate student Swann Flohr won 6-0 at No. 3 to claim the team point.  Playing at the No. 1 doubles today, sophomore Lamar Bartley and senior Christian Wedel were up 5-0 when the point was clinched.
 
The strong play continued into singles as Felline won 6-0, 6-0 over Connor Gunnell at No. 4, while Flohr won 6-0, 6-1 at No. 6 over Malachi Wilkins for a 3-0 lead and Etty won 6-1, 6-2 at NO. 5 over Elijah Hagan to end the match.  The top three matches were unfinished as No. 56 junior Rodrigo Carvalho was up 6-2, 5-1 at the top spot, while Bartley won the first set at No. 2, 6-4 and was tied in the second at 1-1.  Wedel, ranked No. 51, won 6-3 in the first set at No. 3 over Yike Liu and was tied 1-1 in the second set.
 
No. 2-ranked and Gulf South Conference Player of the Year, junior Luca Mack, had the day off in preparation for the Blazers' potential title run.  VSU and West Florida each have won 14 conference titles which tie for the most in league-history. 

Mack, Carvalho, and Wedel all earned first team all-conference honors this season, while Lee's Nico Ramirez and Francisco Faria also earned first team honors.  Felline was a second team selection for the Blazers.