VALDOSTA, Ga. – The No. 1-ranked and top-seeded Valdosta State men's tennis team is scheduled to open the 2025 NCAA South Regional Friday at 9 a.m. versus No. 8-seed Spring Hill College at the VSU Tennis Complex.
 
The Blazers are hosting their third-straight NCAA South Regional and enter with a 20-0 record as the only undefeated team in NCAA Division II Men's Tennis.  Spring Hill College (16-8) won the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) for the second year in a row to earn the automatic qualifier.  Saint Leo, the No. 4-seed and ranked 12^th nationally, is 19-8 this season, while No. 5-seed and No. 16-ranked Lee is 14-3. 
 
In the GSC Championship, the Blazers defeated Christian Brothers and Mississippi College, 4-0 each, while handing West Florida its second loss of the season with a 4-1 win in the title match. VSU defeated UWF in Valdosta earlier in the season, 5-2.  This season, four Blazers earned All-GSC honors as long-time head coach John Hansen was named GSC Coach of the Year for the 15^th time for the men's program and third in the last five years.  Freshman Julien Doitteau was named GSC Freshman of the Year, while seniors Boruch Skierkier, Takeshi Taco and Edgar Destouet earned first team honors and junior Jan Skerbatis was a second team selection.  
 
Last month Hansen was announced as a member of the GSC Hall Fame Class of 2025.  Hansen's induction marks the seventh-straight class of a Blazer being enshrined into the Hall of Fame, with Marti Littlefield (softball) in 2018, Dusty Bonner (football) in 2019, Morgan Faulk (softball) in 2020, Briny Baird (men's golf) in 2022, Kenny Moore II (football) and Courtney Albritton Johnson (softball) in 2023, retired Director of Athletics Herb Reinhard in 2024 and now Hansen in 2025.  
 
Former VSU baseball coach Tommy Thomas was inducted in 2015 and former Blazer quarterback and head coach Chris Hatcher was enshrined in the inaugural class in 2014 for ten total Blazers now in the GSC Hall of Fame.
 
No. 4-seed Saint Leo will battle No. 5-seed Lee also at 9 a.m. due to the threat of inclement weather Friday afternoon.  The winners then will face each other on Saturday, May 10 at 11 a.m., with a trip to the NCAA Division II Championship rounds on the line.   The other half of the regional will be hosted by No. 2-seed West Florida who will face No. 7-seed Mississippi College and No. 3-seed Barry battles No. 6-seed Florida Southern this weekend in Pensacola, Fla.
 
The 2025 NCAA Division II Men's Tennis National Championship rounds will be May 20-24 at Sandlando Park in Altamonte Springs, Fla.  The winner of both VSU site and the UWF site advance to the championship rounds and the final 16 teams will be reseeded following the regionals.  
 
VSU won its third national title last season with a thrilling 4-3 win over Flagler College in the national championship match as it came down to the final set at No. 6 singles with former Blazer Christian Wedel battling back from a 1-2 deficit to win five of the next six games for a 6-3 win in the final set over Aly El Rafie.  
 
The Blazers have won 36-straight matches dating back to last season and are making their 30^thappearance in the NCAA postseason and are 62-26 (.705) all-time with the three national titles (2006, 2011, 2024), three runner-up finishes, one third place finish and two fourth place finishes.   
 
VSU has qualified for the NCAA postseason for the 11^th-straight year of a championship being played (no championship in 2020 due to COVID).  VSU won its third-straight Gulf South Conference title the last weekend in April and it marked the 17^th league title in program history for the most all-time in GSC history.  
 
Saint Leo is 11-12 all-time in the NCAA postseason making its 13^th appearance as the Lions have finished runner-up once and third once.  Lee is making its first appearance in program history, while Spring Hill is 0-2 making its third appearance for the teams in the Blazers' portion of the regional.
 
The Blazers are 8-0 this season against the regional field as they have played everyone (but Spring Hill) at least once with Mississippi College and West Florida twice each.  Taco is ranked No. 2 nationally in singles and is 21-1 this year, while Skierkier is No. 3 nationally and is 27-3 this year.  Taco won the ITA Fall National Championships in 2024 and was named VSU Male Athlete of the Year in April at the athletic department end of the year banquet.  Destouet is 25-1 this year in singles and ranked 20^th nationally, while Taco and senior Xaveam Van Wijk are fifth nationally in doubles with a 17-3 record.  Destouet and graduate student Arthur Bord are eighth nationally in doubles with a 19-4 record.  
 
The Badgers enter with a 16-8 record and this marks the third-straight year VSU and SHC have met in the regionals. VSU won 4-0 on April 28, 2023 and won 4-0 on May 13, 2024, both in Valdosta in the first round of the regional.  SHC won its third-straight SIAC title with a 4-1 win over Tuskegee on Apr. 19.  
 
SHC head coach John Dotson was named SIAC Coach of the Year and Tum Gutermann was named SIAC Men's Tennis Player of the Year highlighting the postseason awards for the Badgers.  Gutermann earned all-league honors in both singles and doubles, while Phillip Bosman earned all-conference honors in singles and Hugo Blasco Granell earned all-league honors in doubles.    
 
For singles, Blasco Granell is 14-2 in singles this spring mainly at No. 6, while Bosman is 14-6 at the No. 2 spot and Gutermann was 15-7 at the top spot.  Blasco Granell/Gutermann are 15-6 in doubles at the top spot, while Bosman and Will Huckell are 13-5 mainly at No. 2 doubles.  
 
The Blazers defeated Saint Leo 4-1 in the second match of the season in Valdosta on Feb. 21, while VSU won 4-3 at Lee on Mar. 19 in one of the toughest matches of the season.  In that match, Lee handed VSU its first loss of the doubles point all season.  VSU rallied in singles though, holding leads of 2-1 and 3-2, but the Flames would'nt go quietly.  Van Wijk won 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 won at No. 6 doubles in the decisive match over Rytis Razminas at No. 6.  
 
VSU defeated Saint Leo 4-3 last season in the national semifinals in Orlando and won 4-3 in Valdosta on Apr. 7 during the regular season.  In the national semifinal match, VSU built a 3-0 lead, only to see the Lions roar back to tie the match at 3-3, before Skierkier won 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7-3) over Vincent Thiel at No. 2 singles in the decisive match to advance to the national championship match.  In the regular season meeting, SLU won the doubles point and got a win by retirement, but the Blazers won four of the final five singles matches, including a 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 win by Wedel over Dylan Andrianaly for the 4-3 win.  
 
VSU leads the all-time series with Saint Leo 5-4 and has won four-straight meetings in the series.  The Blazers own a 16-0 record all-time against Lee and this would be the first time of the teams meeting in the postseason if it were to happen.