VALDOSTA, Ga. – The top-ranked Valdosta State men's tennis team heads to Indianapolis, Ind., for the 2024 Intercollegiate Tennis Association National Indoor Team Championships, Feb. 16-18, 2024, at the University of Indianapolis Tennis center.  The Blazers are 4-0 on the year and are the No. 2-seed at the nationals and will open facing No. 7-seed Flagler on Friday morning at 8 a.m. ET.  
 
Defending national champion Barry is the top seed for the championship, followed by Valdosta State and Saint Leo is the No. 3-seed.  Columbus State is the No. 4-seed, followed by host UIndy at No. 5, while West Florida is seeded sixth, followed by Flagler and Wayne State (Mich.) is the No. 8-seed.  The format will be the standard eight team quarterfinal matchup where the top ranked team faces the lowest seed and so on.
 
Click here for the ITA Division II National Men's Team Indoor Championship page for links to live stats and streaming of the matches.  Each of the eight teams is guaranteed three matches.  The VSU vs. Flagler match will begin at 8 a.m. ET on Friday, Feb. 16, and the winner/loser of the match will face the winner/loser of the Saint Leo/West Florida match on Saturday, Feb. 17, with the winner's bracket match at either 11 a.m. or 5:30 p.m., while the consolation match will be at either 8 a.m. or 2:30 p.m.  On Sunday, the championship match is set for 2:30 p.m., while the third-place match is at 5:30 p.m.  The seventh-place match is scheduled for 8 a.m., and the fifth-place match is at 11 a.m.
 
The Blazers, who are 4-0 overall this season and 1-0 in Gulf South Conference play are coming off wins at No. 2 Barry (4-3) and No. 22 Lynn (4-1) last week, along with wins over Shorter (7-0) and at Georgia College (7-0).  Blazer junior newcomer Boruch Skierkier, ranked 16^th nationally, won at No. 4 singles over Tim Riedel, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, to win the match for the Blazers.  Skierkier was trailing in the third, as was junior Rodrigo Carvalho at No. 2 singles with both pulling off huge third set comebacks to secure the victory in another thrilling entry in the storied history of both programs.  VSU won the doubles point and had a 2-1 lead in the team score, before Barry won at both Nos. 5 and 6 for a 3-2 lead. VSU then won 4-1 at Lynn on Sunday, less than 24 hours after the match at Barry.  
 
Senior Luca Mack and Carvalho are 4-0 in doubles this season at the top spot in the lineup, while Mack is 4-0 in singles at the top spot and Carvalho is 3-1 at No. 2 singles.  The Blazers have not lost a doubles match thus far, going 11-0.  Skierkier is 4-0 in singles at Nos. 3 and 4, while newcomer junior Takeshi Taco is 3-1 in singles.  He is No. 4 nationally, while senior Christian Wedel, who is 2-1 in singles play, is No. 29 nationally.  Overall in singles, VSU is 18-4 this season.  
 
Flagler enters as the No. 4 team nationally this season and the No. 7-seed for the championship.  The Saints are 1-0 after a 5-2 victory over Florida Southern on Feb. 10 in Saint Augustine, Fla.  Flagler went 19-7 last season and 5-1 in Peach Belt Conference play, losing to Indianapolis in the quarterfinal round of the national championship in May in Orlando, Fla.  
 
This season, Baptiste Mercier has gone 15-6 in tournament play in the fall, as he is the top-ranked singles player in the ITA preseason rankings after winning the ITA Fall National Championship.  He is 1-0 this spring with a 6-4, 3-6, 1-0 (10-7) win over Florida Southern's Chris Fok Kow.  Teammate Jacopo Denitto is seventh nationally in singles.  He is 10-10 this year and 10-9 in tournament play.  
 
Flagler and VSU didn't play last season as VSU the only meeting on Feb. 21, 2021, in Valdosta, 5-2.  Mack and Wedel are the only two current Blazers to have played against Flagler in the previous meeting and Carvalho played at the top spot in the Flagler lineup in both singles and doubles in the previous matchup.  
 
Check back with vstateblazers.com for complete recaps and stats of each Blazer match of championship.