VALDOSTA, Ga. – The No. 2-ranked Valdosta State men's tennis team posted a hard-fought 4-1 victory over No. 6 West Florida in the NCAA South Regional Tournament to earn a berth in the NCAA Division II Men's Tennis National Championship Rounds.
The Blazers (19-0) now will find out what seed they are in the next few days, prior to the NCAA National Championship, which is scheduled May 11-16 in at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla. UWF finishes its season at 16-5.
The win marks the first time VSU has reached the national championship rounds since the 2016 when the Blazers defeated Bluefield State, 5-0 and lost to Hawaii Pacific 5-4. VSU won national titles in 2006 and 2011, while it was runner-up three times. VSU now is 54-25 all-time in the NCAA postseason in its 28
th appearance.
In doubles, VSU's top duo of No. 15-ranked juniors
Luca Mack and
Rodrigo Carvalho got an early break for a 5-3 lead over No. 4-ranked duo of Facundo Bermejo and Tomas Descarrega. At No. 3, juniors
Pedro Cordeiro and
Christian Wedel also held an early break for a 4-2 score, while UWF's duo of Bernardo Costa and Sebastian Rondon had a break on senior
Christian Felline and sophomore
Lamar Bartley at No. 2. Bartley/Felline battled back to tie it a 4-4, just after Wedel/Cordeiro won 6-2 at No. 3 doubles for the first finished match. Mack/Carvalho served for the team point and a 6-3 victory as VSU took a 1-0 lead.
Just like many matches with West Florida previously, things got tight in the singles portion. Mack downed Descarrega, 6-1, 6-2 for a 2-0 lead as just one of two singles matches decided in straight-sets. UWF's Joaquin Estevez won at No. 6, 7-5, 6-4, over Cordeiro pulling UWF within 3-1. Prior to that, VSU went up 3-0 as Wedel, ranked No. 48 nationally, battled back from a 6-1 loss in the first set to Sebastian Rondon for a 6-3 victory I the second set. Wedel then won 6-3 in the third set for a 3-0 lead.
Following Estevez's win at No. 6, things got very tight at Nos. 2,3 and 5. Carvalho broke a 2-2 tie in the third set with a big break for a 4-2 lead as he and No. 21 Bermejo split the first two sets with Carvalho winning the opener 6-3 and Bermejo the second set 6-4. Carvalho then broke again for a 5-2 lead and was serving for the championship.
Bermejo kept the match alive as he broke back for a 5-3 deficit. At No. 3, Bartley pulled within 4-4 in the third set with Santiago Kearney, while Mateo Martinez held a 3-1 lead in the third set over Felline at the No. 5 spot. Bermejo then won on his serve, pulling within 5-4 as Carvalho once again was serving for the championship. Santiago Kearney took a 5-4 lead at No. 3 over Bartley, but Carvalho came through with a 6-4 victory as the Blazers claimed the title.
VSU joins No. 3-seed Barry as the two teams to come out of the South Region for the national championship rounds as Barry defeated No. 1-ranked (ITA) and No. 2-seed Saint Leo, 4-2, Saturday at Saint Leo.
