BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Valdosta State senior men's tennis standout Takeshi Taco was name to the Gulf South Conference Top Ten Award, presented by Caldwell Architects, and finalist for the Commissioner's Trophy which is the conference's most prestigious individual honor, the conference office announced Wednesday.  
 
Earning GSC Top Ten honors this year are; Alabama Huntsville's Tommy Murr (men's basketball) and Lili Wilken (women's basketball), Auburn Montgomery's Chloe Baynes (softball), Delta State's Brett Burrell (baseball), Lee's Ryan Lovelace (men's cross cross/track & field) and Ashleigh Simes (women's tennis), Trevecca Nazarene's Ashlan Sensing (softball), Valdosta State's Takeshi Taco (men's tennis), West Alabama's Marissa Mitchell (softball), and West Florida's Keegan Lynch (men's soccer).
 
The award recognizes the top female and top male student-athletes for their athletic, academic, and extracurricular achievements, during the 2024-25 academic year. One men's and women's sport student-athlete will be also be awarded the Commissioner's Trophy, which is the conference's most prestigious individual honor and will be announced in-person at the GSC Awards Ceremony.
 
Honorees will be celebrated Thursday, May 29 in Pensacola, Fla., as part of the 2025 GSC Awards and Hall of Fame Ceremony presented by Caldwell Architects. The evening will be streamed at no charge, on the conference's YouTube channel.  Blazer head men's and women's tennis coach John Hansen also will be inducted in Pensacola into the 2025 GSC Hall of Fame.
 
Taco, a native of Lima, Peru, was named Herb and Linda Reinhard VSU Male Student-Athlete of the Year for 2024-2025.  He earned All-GSC First Team honors helping lead VSU to a current 22-0 record, the program's 17^th Gulf South Conference title and a berth in the NCAA National Championship rounds next week in Orlando, Fla.  Taco and the Blazers have won 38-straight matches dating back to the final 16 matches of 2024 as VSU won its third national title in program history with a thrilling 4-3 win over Flagler College last May.  
 
For this season, Taco is No. 2 nationally in singles at 22-1 this year as he won the ITA Fall National Championship.  Teamed with senior Xaveam Van Wijk, the duo is 17-4 this year in doubles and are fifth nationally.  Taco earned ITA All-America honors in singles in 2024 and first team all-league honors last season.  For his career, he is 53-6 in singles and 35-13 in doubles.  
 
This marks the sixth-straight year of a Blazer male student-athlete earning GSC Top Ten honors and Taco becomes the 14^th different Blazer male to earn GSC Top Ten honors and the 26^th overall.  He is the fourth different Blazer men's tennis player joining Klaus Acker (1997-98), Philip Pakebusch (2010-11) and Luca Mack (2022-23) to earn the honor.