MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The top-seeded and No. 2-ranked Valdosta State men's tennis team continued its perfect season with a 4-0 victory over No. 12 Lee University in the Gulf South Conference Championship semifinal round Friday afternoon to advance to the championship match versus No. 18 Auburn Montgomery Saturday at 11 a.m. ET at Lagoon Park.
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The Blazers (16-0) qualify for their 27
th conference title match in program history (14-12) and are tied with West Florida for the most conference titles in league history with 14. This marks AUM's first AUM's first appearance in the title match since it joined the conference. AUM is 3-2 all-time in the tournament with a semifinal loss to VSU in 2021, 4-1. The Blazers now have qualified for the title match for the eighth-straight year, going 4-3 in the previous seven. It also continues a streak of either VSU or West Florida or both reaching the championship match consecutively since 1994.
VSU came out firing on all cylinders in the doubles portion Friday as juniors
Christian Wedel and
Pedro Cordeiro won at No. 3 over Andrew Johnston and Jordi Dasi, 6-1, while No. 12-ranked duo of juniors
Rodrigo Carvalho and
Luca Mack made quick work of Nico Ramirez Ribes and Francisco Faria, 6-1 to win the point. Lee's No. 46 duo of Quinn Groenendijk and Mike Groenendijk were leading Blazer tandem of sophomore
Lamar Bartley and
Christian Felline, 4-3, when the point was decided. Lee stands at 14-5 on the year and was ninth in the latest NCAA South Region rankings, released Wednesday.
Heading into singles play, the matches were much tighter with four in the decisive third set when VSU clinched. Carvalho, ranked No. 56 nationally, began with a straight-set victory over No. 62 Faria, 6-3, 6-2, for a 2-0 lead. Wedel, ranked No. 51, opened with a 6-3 victory over Wihan Van Der Merwe, but lost the second set 6-3 and came back with a convincing third set, winning 6-2, for a 3-0 lead. Mack, who is ranked No. 2, won 7-6, 6-3 over Ramirez Ribes to clinch the match. Bartley split sets with Dasi at No. 2, both winning 7-5, while Felline was in the third set with Q. Groenendijk at No. 5, as was Cordeiro at No. 6 with Johnston.
AUM enters the championship match as the No. 3-seed in the conference tournament and seventh in the regional ranking. The Warhawks are 16-7 overall and upset No. 2-seed West Florida 4-1 on Friday. VSU defeated the Warhawks earlier in the season 6-1 in Montgomery, Ala. AUM won the doubles point, but the Blazers roared back to win all six singles matches.
The winner of Saturday's match will earn the GSC's automatic berth into the NCAA South Regional. VSU entered the week as the top team in the region ranking.
