VALDOSTA, Ga. – Coming off their first true road matches of the season, the Valdosta State men's and women's tennis teams travel to Montgomery, Ala., to face Christian Brothers in neutral site matches Monday afternoon at 1 p.m. ET.
 
The Blazer men's team enters the match 9-0 and 4-0 in Gulf South Conference play and a No. 3 national ranking.  The Blazers outlasted No. 25 Lee's upset bid on Wednesday in the closest match of the season to date.  Lee handed VSU its first loss in the team point in doubles this season winning two of the three matches for the early lead.  
 
VSU roared back with convincing wins at Nos. 1-3 in singles for a 3-1 lead, but the Flames closed with a win at No. 4, before senior Xaveam Van Wijk won 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 at No. 6 singles to clinch the team point.  Freshman Julien Doitteau battled back from a 6-4 opening set loss at No. 5 for a 7-6 (8-6) win in the second set, but fell 6-2 in the third at No. 5 singles for the 4-3 final margin.
 
Fans can access links to live stats of the CBU matches at vstateblazers.com on the men's and women's tennis schedule pages.
 
Nationally speaking, top doubles duo of seniors Takeshi Taco and Van Wijk are 12-3 on the year and 7-1 this spring as they are fifth nationally in the latest ITA rankings.  In singles, Taco is No. 2 nationally as he is 16-1 this season and 6-1 this spring.  Senior Boruch Skierkier is fifth nationally and 18-3 this year, while he is 7-1 this spring.  Senior Edgar Destouet is 14-1 this year in singles for 17^th nationally and is a perfect 8-0 this spring.  Doitteau is 6-1 in singles this year and 5-1 this spring, while Van Wijk is 7-1 in singles and 4-0 this spring.  
 
Christian Brothers is scheduled to play three matches in Montgomery this weekend, facing Montevallo on Saturday, at Auburn Montgomery on Sunday and versus VSU on Monday.  Heading into the weekend, CBU is 7-3 overall and 0-2 in GSC play with a pair of 7-0 league losses to Lee and West Florida.  
 
VSU leads the all-time series 13-0 dating back to 2009.  The Blazers have not allowed a team point to CBU in the last five matches and have only allowed one team point in all 12 matches in a 5-1 win in Pensacola, Fla., on Apr. 6, 2018.  
 
On the women's side, the Blazers enter with a 2-6 record overall and a 1-3 mark in GSC play.  Despite the 6-1 loss to No. 21 Lee on Wednesday, the Blazers have come a long way as they were close in all three doubles matches, falling 6-4 in each one.  Senior Olivia Pezo won 6-0, 6-3 over Aliyah Dwyer at No. 3 singles for a 2-1 deficit and freshman Alyssa Novoa went three sets with Maria Penalver at No. 2 singles as Novoa won the first set 7-6 (9-7) and lost the next two 6-3, 6-4. 
 
This season, sophomore Natalie Rainke, the reigning GSC Player of the Week, is 38^th nationally in singles with a 9-4 record this year and a 4-3 record this spring.  She hung tough with the No. 1-ranked player in D2 in Ashleigh Simes of Lee, falling 6-3, 6-4 on Wednesday.  Novoa is 7-4 this year for the Blazers and 3-3 this spring.  
 
VSU leads the series with Christian Brothers 10-0 dating ack to 2013.  VSU won in Pensacola, Fla., last season 7-0.  
 
Following the matches, VSU returns home to host Georgia College on Sunday, Mar. 30 at 2 p.m. at the VSU Tennis Complex.