INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Following the disappointing 4-3 loss to No. 4-ranked Flagler on Friday morning, the top-ranked Valdosta State men's tennis team defeated No. 5 West Florida 4-2 in the consolation bracket of the ITA Division II Men's Indoor National Championship.
The Blazers (5-1) will now play Sunday at 11 a.m. in the fifth-place match against an opponent to be named later. West Florida fell to 0-2 on the year as it suffered a 4-3 loss to No. 3 Saint Leo on Friday.
VSU opened the match winning the doubles point, once again, for the early lead. UWF duo of Diego Duran and Albin Ekenros downed freshman Jerome Iacone and junior
Takeshi Taco, 6-2, at No. 2, but Blazer duo of sophomore
Jan Skerbatis and junior
Boruch Skierkier won 6-4 at No. 3 over Joaquin Estevez and Bernardo Costa. Coming down to the top match in the doubles lineup, Blazer tandem of junior
Rodrigo Carvalho and senior
Luca Mack put away Sebastian Rondon and Sebastian Sotelo, 6-3, to earn the team point.
Carvalho and Mack are off to a 6-0 start in doubles this spring at the top spot in the lineup, while the team is 15-2 in doubles so far this season. Skierkier/Skerbatis improved to 3-0 this spring at the No. 3 spot, while Iaconi/Taco are 3-2 in doubles.
With the momentum heading into singles play, the Blazers looked to prevent what happened yesterday in losing in singles play. UWF quickly erased the deficit as Ekenros won 6-1, 6-1 at No. 6 singles over Iaconi for a 1-1 score. The Argos then took a 2-1 lead with a win at No. 5 singles as Duran upset No. 29
Christian Wedel, 6-4, 6-2.
VSU got back on track as Skierkier, ranked No. 16 nationally, downed Mateo Martinez at No. 4, 6-3, 6-1, for a 2-2 score. Skierkier improved to a team-best 6-0 in singles this season with the win, while Mack improved to 5-1 in singles play this spring with a 6-2, 7-5 win at the top spot in the lineup for a 3-2 lead. Taco, ranked No. 4 nationally, won 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) over Rondon at No. 3 singles to win the match, while Carvalho held a 7-5, 5-4 lead over No. 17 Sotelo when the match was clinched. Taco improved to 5-1 this season in singles also, as VSU is 23-10 in singles for the spring.
Check back with vstateblazers.com Sunday for the final match of the championship and
click here for a link to the championship central web page.
