VALDOSTA, Ga. – The No. 1-ranked Valdosta State men's teams open a very busy stretch of matches with No. 5 Barry University on Saturday at 10 a.m. at the VSU Tennis Complex. VSU is scheduled to play five matches in eight days.
The Blazer men's team plays No. 5 Barry at 9 a.m. on Saturday, then faces No. 1-ranked Georgia Gwinnett of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) on Monday at 10 a.m. and then face Lander on Mar. 4 at 2 p.m. at the VSU Tennis Complex. Later in the week, the Blazers host No. 2 West Florida on Friday, Mar. 7 and Lynn on Sunday, Mar. 9 at 10 a.m. to conclude the season-opening home stand of eight matches.
The Blazers are coming off a 4-1 victory over No. 6 Saint Leo and a 5-0 win over Coastal Georgia last weekend. In the match versus Saint Leo, the Blazers won the doubles point with wins at the top two spots, including No. 6-ranked duo of seniors
Takeshi Taco and
Xaveam Van Wijk, wining 6-3 over Kodai Kato and Eduardo Cohen. In singles, VSU won three matches, while Taco, ranked No. 1 nationally, was upset by Vincent Thiel 6-2, 7-5. Freshman
Julien Doitteau, graduate
Arthur Bord and senior
Edgar Destouet each had straight-set victories. Against an overmatched Coastal Georgia squad with a 5-0 win. No. 3-ranked senior
Boruch Skierkier won 6-0, 6-0 in singles at the top spot, while Taco/Van Wijk won 6-1 at the top spot in doubles.
This spring, Taco is 0-1 in singles and 2-0 in doubles, while Skierkier is 2-0 in singles and 3-0 in doubles with junior
Jan Skerbatis. Doitteau is 2-0 in singles, while Destouet is 3-0 in singles. Both Bord and Destouet are 1-0 in doubles. Destouet and Doitteau earned GSC Player and Freshman of the Week honors, following their efforts last week. It is the second Freshman of the Week honor for Doitteau and first Player of the Week honor for Destouet.
The No. 6 Buccaneers enter with a 5-1 record this season and has not played since a 4-0 win over No. 7 Rollins on Feb. 16 at the ITA Indoor Championships. Barry lost 4-3 to then-No. 6 West Florida and defeated No. 12 Indianapolis, 4-2. For the season, the Buccaneers are 24-8 in singles and 15-2 in doubles matches this season. Simone Cavalleri is 3-0 in singles, while Yan Kodjoed also is 3-0, while Elie Azoulay and Leo Caill are 3-0, too. IN doubles, Gabriele Felline and Tim Riedel are 6-0 in doubles at the No. 2 spot, while Caill and Kodjoed are 5-1 at the top spot.
Barry leads the all-time series 20-11, but the Blazers have won the last two matches and four of five. VSU won 4-0 in Valdosta in 2023-24 in the NCAA regional, while winning 4-3 in Miami during the regular season. Barry's last win came in the NCAA National Semifinals in Orlando, Fla., 4-1.
Georgia Gwinnett is 10-0 and will play Montreat (N.C.) on Friday and then face Barry on Sunday in Valdosta, before facing the Blazers the following day. GGC has won 260 of its last 264 matches dating back to the 2012-13 season and the last 45-straight dating back to a 4-3 loss to Keiser University on Feb. 5, 2023. GGC is 42-7 this spring in singles and 24-5 in doubles. Luis Francisco Sampedro leads the team with a 10-0 record in singles, while Andoni Garmendia is 9-1. In doubles, Jeremias Rocco and Santiago Villarruel are 10-0 in doubles at the top spot to lead the team. GGC owns a 2-0 record against VSU as it won 4-1 in Valdosta on Feb. 8, 2020, and won 5-0 in Pensacola, Fla., on Apr. 10, 2016.
Lander is 5-1 on the year and will face Francis Marion on Saturday, before heading to Valdosta for Tuesday's match. Lander lost an exhibition match to Georgia Gwinnett (5-2) and dropped the opening match of the season in a 4-3 loss to Barton College, before winning five-straight. This season, the Bearcats are 25-10 in singles play and 12-6 in doubles with Harry Pugh leading the way in singles with a 6-0 record. Brendan Jayaprakash is 5-1 at the No. 6 spot in singles, while Merlin Bellet and Ismail ElShafei are 4-2. In doubles, the Bearcats are led by Ludvig Danielsson and Markus Sorensen who are 4-1, while Jayaprakash and Pugh are 5-1.
