VALDOSTA, Ga. – The top-ranked and defending national champion Valdosta State men's tennis team and the Blazer women's tennis team open the 2025 spring season with Gulf South Conference rival Montevallo on Friday at 2 p.m. at the VSU Tennis Complex.  
 
The men's team is coming off its third national championship in 2024 with a thrilling 4-3 win over Flagler in Orlando, Fla., last May with the match coming down to the final court as former Blazer Christian Wedel trailed 2-1 in the final set and won five of the next six games for the win and the national title.  The Blazers finished with a 26-3 record last season and went 8-1 in Gulf South Conference play, winning their GSC-best 16^th Gulf South Conference title.  
 
Links for live stats of the matches are available on the Blazer men's and women's tennis schedule pages at vstateblazers.com.
 
For 2024-25, the Blazers return a strong contingent from last season, including senior Takeshi Taco who won the 2024 ITA Fall Championships defeating Ouachita Baptist's (Ark.) Phil Exner, 7-6 (7-5), 6-1.  Taco roared back as he was down 2-4 in the first set tiebreaker, winning five of the next six points to claim the first set and then got a critical deuce point at 4-1 in the second set going on for the 6-1 victory.  
 
Entering the spring season, the Blazers lead the national rankings as defending champions, followed by Flagler, Saint Leo, Barry and Columbus State round out the top five.  West Florida is sixth, followed by Rollins, Washburn (Kan.), Wingate (N.C.) and Azusa Pacific (Calif.) round out the top ten.  Embry-Riddle is 11^th, while Florida Southern is 13^th and Mississippi College is 18^th among other teams in the region. 
 
Individually, Taco leads the way in singles, while senior teammate Boruch Skierkier is third in the singles rankings and sophomore Jerome Iaconi is 24^th.  In doubles, Taco and senior Xaveam Van Wijk are sixth nationally.  The duo reached the quarterfinal round of the ITA Fall Cup and lost in the semifinals of the ITA South Regional.  Skierkier lost to Exner in the semifinals of the ITA Fall Cup, while Iaconi reached the quarterfinal round of the ITA South Regional.  
 
Taco, Skierkier, Iaconi, Van Wijk, along with junior Jan Skerbatis and sophomore Matteo Castellazzi all return from last season.  Long time Blazer head coach John Hansen added the services of graduate student Arthur Bord, senior Edgar Destouet and freshman Julien Doitteau.  Bord comes to VSU from University of Findlay in Ohio, while Destouet comes from the University of Nevada and University of Indianapolis.  
 
In dual matches in 2024, Skierkier was an unblemished 26-0, while Taco was 24-3 and Iaconi was 16-5.  For doubles, Skerbatis was 24-3, Skierkier was 20-3, Taco was 14-9 and Van Wijk was 10-7.
 
Fans can access links to live results of the match at vstateblazers.com on the men's tennis schedule page.
 
Montevallo enters following a 7-12 record in 2023-24 and a 3-6 mark in GSC play.  The Falcons and Blazers met twice last season with VSU winning 7-0 in Montevallo, Ala., on Mar. 13 and then the Blazers posted a 4-0 victory in the Gulf South Conference Quarterfinals in Montgomery, Ala.  VSU has won the last seven meetings in the series dating back to 2018.  
 
On the women's side, the Blazers enter the season after finishing 11-12 in 2023-24 and 8-2 in Gulf South Conference play.  The team lost 4-3 to Auburn Montgomery in the GSC semifinals last season after defeating Lee in the quarterfinal round, 4-0.  
 
The Blazers return seniors Viktoriia Fedorova, Valentina Jimenez Kayla Greco and Olivia Pezo, along with sophomore Natalie Rainke and added Nevada/UIndy senior transfer Lea Cakarevic and freshman Alyssa Novoa.  Pezo went 12-9 in singles last season, while Greco was 12-8.  Fedorova was 4-4 and Rainke was 9-11.  Rainke was 12-8 in doubles and Greco was 9-9 to lead the returners. 
 
Following the matches on Friday, the Blazers return to action on Friday, Feb. 21 at 2 p.m. versus Saint Leo also at the VSU Tennis Complex.