VALDOSTA, Ga. – The Valdosta State men's tennis team learned Monday evening that it once again earned the No. 1-seed and hosting duties for one half of the NCAA South Regional as announced on the NCAA Division II Men's Tennis Selection Show.
 
The Blazers will host No. 8-seed Spring Hill College on Monday, May 13 at 10 a.m. at the VSU Tennis Complex, while No. 4-seed Barry will battle No. 5-seed West Florida at 2 p.m. The winners will advance to a match on Tuesday, May 14 at 1 p.m. with the winner advancing to the NCAA National Championship Rounds in Altamonte Springs, Fla., May 21-25 at Sanlando Park.
 
The other half of the eight-team regional features No. 2-seed Saint Leo who is hosting and facing No. 7-seed Florida Southern, while No. 3-seed Rollins battles No. 6-seed Embry-Riddle. The winner of that half also advances to Altamonte Springs.
 
The Blazers will be making their 29^th appearance in the postseason and are 54-26 all-time with two titles (2006 and 2011), along with three runner-up finishes and one third-place finish.  The 29 appearances are tied for second all-time with Barry and Lander, while Rollins leads the way with 36 trips.  The 54 victories in the postseason are the fifth-most all-time in Division II and second in the GSC behind West Florida's 74 victories.  This is the tenth-straight year VSU has qualified for the postseason.
 
The Blazers are 20-3 this season and won both the Gulf South Conference regular season title and tournament title.  This year's tournament title for the Blazers was the 16^th in program history for the most all-time in GSC history.  VSU went 8-1 in GSC play this season. The Blazers had five players earn all-conference honors this season including juniors Boruch Skierkier and Takeshi Taco, along with senior Luca Mack earning first team selections while senior Christian Wedel and freshman Jerome Iaconi were named to the second team.
 
Spring Hill College is making its second NCAA tournament appearance as the Badgers won the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) Championship for a second year in a row with a 4-0 victory over Benedict a few weeks ago.  SHC is 18-8 on the year and went 12-0 in league play. Much like this year, VSU took on SHC in the opening round of the NCAA Regionals in 2023, defeating the Badgers 4-0.
 
Barry is 14-6 this season and went 4-3 in the Sunshine State Conference.  The Bucs went a perfect 3-0 in the SSC Tournament, knocking off top-seeded Saint Leo 4-1 to claim the program's 19th conference title. This year marks the Bucs 29th consecutive appearance in the NCAA postseason. Barry has won seven national championships including three consecutive titles in 2021, 2022 and 2023 along with seven runner-up finishes.
 
West Florida (17-5) shared the league regular season title with the Blazers and went 1-1 in the GSC Championship last weekend, defeating Delta State 4-0 and losing to Mississippi College, 4-2. West Florida is making its 27^th appearance in the NCAA postseason with a 75-22 record, along with four titles, two runner-up finishes and six third-place finishes. The Blazers defeated the Argos last season in their regional meeting 4-1 to advance to the 2023 National Championship rounds.
 
Check back with vstateblazers.com later in the week for a complete preview of the regional.