VALDOSTA, Ga. – The No. 4-ranked Valdosta State men's tennis team returns home to host No. 5-ranked Columbus State Thursday at 2 p.m. at the VSU Tennis Courts, while the Blazer women's team also battles No. 8 Columbus State at 2 p.m. Thursday.  
 
In the top five matchup on the men's side, both teams are coming off 1-2 finishes at the ITA Indoor National Team Championships in Indianapolis, Ind., Feb. 16-18.  VSU lost its first match of the season in a 4-3 decision to then No. 4 Flagler, before beating then No. 5 West Florida (4-2) and losing the fifth-place match 4-2 to the No. 7 Indianapolis, 4-2.  CSU defeated UIndy 4-3, lost to then No. 2 Barry (4-2) and lost 4-0 to Flagler in the third-place match.  
 
The Blazers are 5-2 on the year and 1-0 in Gulf South Conference play and fell to No. 4 in the newest ITA Division II rankings which were announced Wednesday.  Barry, who VSU defeated 4-3 earlier in the season, takes over the top spot after winning the ITA Indoor Team Championship, while Saint Leo moved from third to second finishing runner-up at the indoor and Flagler moved from fourth to third, followed by VSU and Columbus State is fifth.  UIndy is sixth, followed by West Florida and Wayne State is eighth.  Rollins sits ninth, followed by Hawaii Pacific to round out the top ten.  Mississippi College is 17^th, while Auburn Montgomery is 19^th and West Alabama is 23^rd among teams in the Gulf South Conference. 
 
Blazer junior newcomer Boruch Skierkier is 7-0 this season in singles as he was 16^th nationally in singles in November.  Junior Takeshi Taco was fourth nationally in the fall rankings and is 5-2 in singles this spring, while senior Luca Mack also is 5-2.  In doubles, Mack and junior Rodrigo Carvalho are 7-0 at the top spot, while senior Christian Wedel and sophomore Jan Skerbatis are 4-0.  
 
Thursday's match with CSU marks the sixth-straight match against a ranked opponent as No. 10 Lander visits on Tuesday, Mar. 5 at 2 p.m., for the seventh-straight ranked foe.  VSU then concludes the home stand on Mar. 9 at 10 a.m. versus league rival Lee.  
 
CSU enters with a 4-2 record overall and a 1-0 mark in the Peach Belt Conference.  The Cougars have wins over Augusta, along with GSC foes Auburn Montgomery (5-2) and West Alabama (6-1) earlier this season.  The Cougars are led in singles by Thomas Cardona who is 5-0 this spring at the No. 3 spot in the lineup, while Daniel Hammond in 4-1 at the No. 4 spot and Andreas Sandrone is 3-1 at the No. 6 position.  In doubles, Sandrone and Felix Steen are 3-2 at the top spot, while Hammond and Cardona are 3-2 at the No. 2 position.  
 
The Cougars have won six of the past nine meetings in the series, dating back to 2011 and have won three-straight.  VSU's last win came in a 5-4 decision on Mar. 2, 2018.  CSU has won the last two meetings, each by 4-3 scores, in Columbus (Apr. 13, 2022) and in Valdosta on Mar. 31, 2021.  
 
On the women's side, the Blazers enter with a 2-2 record overall and a 1-0 mark in the GSC.  Last time out, VSU won 5-2 at No. 22 Georgia College on Feb. 21.  The Blazers were dominant from the start winning all three doubles matches in 29 minutes.  Junior Olivia Pezo won 6-1, 6-4, at No. 5 for a 2-0 lead and freshman Denisa Hanakova won 6-3, 6-1 for a 3-0 lead at No. 4, while junior Viktoriia Fedorova won 6-3, 6-2 at No. 6 to clinch the match.  
 
For the season, Hankakova is 2-1 in singles play at No. 4, while freshman Natalie Rainke is 2-1 at the top spot in singles and junior Kayla Greco is 2-1 at No. 5.  Rainke and freshman Aneta Poborilova are 3-1 in doubles at the No. 2 position to lead the team.
 
Columbus State enters with a 3-3 record after starting the season 3-0 with wins over Augusta, AUM and West Alabama and dropped its three matches at the ITA Indoor Championship.  CSU has won the last six meetings in the series with VSU, including a 5-2 win in Columbus on Apr. 13, 2022, and a 6-1 win in Valdosta on Mar. 31, 2021.