VALDOSTA, Ga. – The No. 3-ranked Valdosta State men's tennis team returns home to host No. 28 Auburn Montgomery and No. 25 Hawaii Pacific, beginning Wednesday with AUM at 3 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. versus Hawaii Pacific
The Blazer enter the week with a 13-3 record overall and a 6-1 mark in GSC play, while AUM is 28
thnationally and is 11-7 overall and 6-1 in GSC play. HPU enters with a 9-2 record overall and a 6-1 mark in the Pacific West Conference. HPU is scheduled to play at North Georgia on Friday, VSU on Sunday and at West Florida on Monday.
Fans can access links to live scoring of the matches at vstateblazers.com on the men's tennis schedule page.
VSU is coming off a 3-0 weekend in Pensacola where it downed both Delta State and Christian Brothers 7-0 and won 5-2 over No. 17 Mississippi College. In Sunday's match with MC, the Blazers won the doubles point as seniors
Luca Mack and
Christian Wedel, ranked No. 35 nationally, won 7-6 (7-4) over Rafael Sabio and Alex Blanchard at the top spot.
Heading to singles, Blanchard, ranked sixth nationally, downed Mack, ranked 24
th nationally, 7-5, 6-1 and MC's Alvaro Saint Martin upset No. 5-ranked junior
Takeshi Taco, 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (10-8) as the match finished after VSU had already won four points to win the team match. VSU had wins at the other four singles spots, including a 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (7-4) win by sophomore
Jan Skerbatis at No. 6 singles over Antoine Nivault.
This spring, Skierkier is 16-0 and 7-0 in GSC play, while Taco is 13-3 overall and 6-1 in league play. Mack is 12-4 overall and 5-2 in conference play, while
Jerome Iaconi is 10-3 overall and 6-0 in conference play in singles. For doubles, Skierkier and Skerbatis are 10-1 overall this spring and 5-1 in GSC play, while Mack/Wedel are 8-0 and 6-0 in league play.
AUM enters the week with an 11-7 record overall and a 6-1 mark in the GSC. VSU and AUM are tied for second in the league standings behind West Florida who is 8-1. The No. 28 Warhawks are led this spring by Adrian Contreras who is 13-3 overall and 5-1 in GSC play, while Alex Verdasco is 11-2 overall and 5-1 in conference play, while Titouan Le Maout is 10-5 overall and 5-1 in the GSC. For doubles, Contreras and Le Maout are 10-1 overall and 4-1 in league play to lead the team.
VSU leads the all-time series 10-0 and beat the Warhawks twice last season in both the regular season and the conference championship match. VSU is 4-0 against AUM in Valdosta. The Blazers won 4-0 in the title match last season and won 6-1 in Montgomery, Ala., on Apr. 5, 2023.
Hawaii Pacific enters 25
th nationally as a team and Robin Sanz enters 68
th nationally in singles, while Jakub Beran and Mile Matic are 13
th nationally in doubles with a 7-1 record. HPU leads the all-time series 5-1, but the Blazers won the last meeting, 5-4, on Apr. 15, 2018, in Pensacola, Fla. This marks the first time HPU has visited Valdosta State as the previous six matches all have been played at neutral sites.
