MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The top-seeded Valdosta State men's tennis team posted a 4-0 victory over No. 4-seed Mississippi College Friday afternoon to advance to the Gulf South Conference Championship match Saturday at 12 p.m. ET versus No. 2-seed West Florida.  
 
The Blazers improved to 19-0 this season with the win and now have won 35-straight matches dating back to last season when VSU won the final 16 matches en route to its third national title in program history.  Mississippi College fell to 16-10 and will nervously await its postseason fate until the NCAA Division II Men's Tennis field is unveiled on NCAA.com on Monday, May 5 at 8 p.m. ET.
 
Friday's match was a repeat of the GSC title match a season ago as VSU won that match 4-0 as well.  This time, in a battle of two top 16 doubles teams, Blazer duo of seniors Takeshi Taco and Xaveam Van Wijk, ranked No. 10 nationally, won 6-2 over No. 16 tandem of Rafael Sabio and Alex Blanchard.  At No. 2 doubles, the Blazers used a 6-2 win from No. 8 duo of senior Edgar Destouet and graduate student Arthur Bord over Walker Ellis and Florian Walcher to claim the team point.
 
Heading to singles, Destouet, ranked No. 21 nationally won 6-1, 6-0 over Gustavo Tedesco, while senior Boruch Skierkier, ranked No. 5 nationally, won 6-0, 6-1 over Florian Walcher for a 3-0 lead.  In a top five matchup, Taco, ranked No. 2 nationally held off a rally from Blanchard, ranked No. 4 nationally, at the top spot for a 6-4 win the opening set and Taco then cruised to a 6-1 win in the second set to clinch the match.  Blanchard was named GSC Men's Tennis Player of the Year this season.  
 
Saturday's championship match will be another edition in the storied history of VSU versus West Florida for the conference title.  The Blazers enter as the No. 2-ranked team in the country and had a 5-2 win over UWF on Mar. 7in Valdosta for the regular season meeting, while UWF enters as the top-ranked team in the newest ITA rankings.   VSU is UWF's only loss this season as the Argos are 23-1.  
 
VSU is going for its league-record 17^th conference title, while UWF is searching for its 15^th title.  One or both of these teams have played in the conference championship match every year since 1994.  VSU is 9-12 all-time against UWF in the championship match and has won three of the last four meetings in the finals.  UWF won the last time they met in the title match in 2022, 4-1.