VALDOSTA, Ga. – The Valdosta State men's and women's tennis teams are scheduled to host Saint Leon Friday, Feb. 21 at 3 p.m., and Coastal Georgia on Saturday at 11 a.m.
 
The Blazer men's tennis team remained the No. 1 team in the country after a 6-1 win over Montevallo on Feb. 7 and is 1-0 on the year.  No. 6 Saint Leo enters with a 3-2 record this spring as it competed in the ITA National Indoors in Indianapolis, Ind., going 1-2 with a 4-3 win over No. 5 Columbus State and 4-3 losses to No. 8 Washburn and No. 2 Flagler.  SLU also beat No. 13 Florida Southern, 4-3.  
 
Against Montevallo, VSU quickly won the doubles point with wins at Nos. 2 and 3 and then used a 6-0, 6-0 win by senior Boruch Skierkier at the top spot as he is ranked third nationally.  Freshman newcomer Julien Doitteau won 6-4, 6-0 at No. 5 singles and then VSU clinched the match with a 6-3, 6-0 win at No. 3 singles by No. 24-ranked Jerome Iaconi.  Skierkier and Doitteau both earned GSC Player and Freshman of the Week honors, respectively, for their efforts.  No. 1-ranked Takeshi Taco didn't play in the opening match, but should be available this weekend.  Taco won the ITA National Championship in the fall in Rome, Ga.
 
The Saint Leo men's team is 11-2 this spring in doubles as a team while it is 16-14 in singles.   Vincent Thiel is 4-1 in singles at the top spot, while Eduardo Cohen and Luis Irarte are 4-0 at the No. 2 spot in doubles, as are Kodai Kato and Jose David Segovia at No. 3 doubles.  Saint Leo is scheduled to play Bates College in Orlando on Thursday, prior to heading to Valdosta for Friday's match.
 
The Blazers and the Lions met twice last season with VSU winning 4-3 at Saint Leo during the regular season and then VSU won 4-3 in the NCAA Division II National Semifinals.  In that match, Skierkier trailed 1-3 and 30-40 in the third set with the team score tied 3-3.  From there, Skierkier, who was fighting through cramping, found another level and rallied for a 7-6 (7-3) win over Thiel as VSU advanced to the national championship match on a very hot and humid day in Orlando, Fla.  VSU has a 4-3 record in the last seven matches with Saint Leo and has won the last three.  
 
Coastal Georgia is 1-0 on the year after a 6-1 win over Abraham Baldwin College on Feb. 11.  The Mariners had a dominating performance against ABAC winning the top two doubles matches and then won five of six singles matches for the win.  Four of the six singles matches went to three sets.  The Mariners were 8-9 last season in NAIA.  This will be the first time VSU and Coastal Georgia have met on the court.
 
On the women's side, the Blazers are 0-1 after a 5-2 loss to Montevallo on Feb. 7.  Freshman Alyssa Novoa was named GSC Freshman of the Week as she won in both singles and doubles in the season-opening match.  Novoa conceded the opening set to Claire Jaramba, before winning the final two sets 6-2, 6-4 to secure the point on court two.  Prior to that, she teamed with Viktoriia Fedorova at the top doubles spot winning 7-5 over Greta Vagnini and Johanna Kullman.  The Blazers are coming off an 11-12 record in 2023-24, with an 8-2 mark in GSC play as the season came to a close in the conference tournament semifinals with a 4-3 loss to Auburn Montgomery.  
 
Saint Leo enters as the No. 13-ranked team in the country and are 2-0 this season with a 4-3 win over Florida Southern and a 7-0 win over Edward Waters.  SLU is facing Bates College Thursday morning, like the men, before heading to Valdosta Friday.  This season Saint Leo is led by an 8-3 mark in singles and a 4-1 mark in doubles.  The Lions have used multiple lineups in singles as well as doubles thus far.
 
The Lions have won three of the last five matches dating back to 2013 and won three-straight, including a 4-2 win at Saint Leo last season on Apr. 17.  
 
The Mariners are 0-1 this season following a 4-3 loss to ABAC on Feb. 11.  Last season, Coastal Georgia was 4-8 overall and 2-5 in the Sun Conference.  Coastal Georgia went 2-0 in doubles so far this season and are 1-4 in singles as Karlie Scott Kersey won at the top spot in singles.