VALDOSTA, Ga. – The No. 17 Valdosta State women's tennis team returns to action hosting Auburn Montgomery Friday at 2 p.m. in a key Gulf South Conference matchup at the VSU Tennis Complex, followed by a road match at No. 47 Saint Leo on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.
 
The Blazer enters 17^th nationally with a 6-4 record overall and a 3-0 mark in Gulf South Conference play, while AUM enters at 5-9 overall and 2-2 in GSC play.  Saint Leo enters the week 47^th nationally.  Fans can access links to live scoring of the AUM match at vstateblazers.com on the men's and women's tennis schedule pages.  
 
VSU had a match scheduled at Flagler on Wednesday, but it was postponed due to the threat of inclement weather in Saint Augustine, Fla., in the afternoon.  No makeup date has been announced.  The Blazers are coming off a 6-1 win at Montevallo on Mar. 17 and a 6-1 loss to top-ranked Barry on Mar. 21.  No. 53-ranked Ivana Castillo Hurtado won both of her singles matches last week and scored the lone team point against Barry with a 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 1-0 (10-8) win over Louane Lutringer at the No. 3 singles spot.  Castillo Hurtado is 11-5 this year in singles and 7-5 in doubles. VSU as a team has won five of its last six matches after starting the season 1-3.  
 
In doubles, Blazer tandem of Lena Beckx and Milica Prokic are 48^th nationally this week as the duo is 6-5 on the year.  This spring, the Blazers are 18-8 in doubles as a team, while they are 33-25 in singles.  Charleigh Fay has also had a strong start in singles as she is 10-4 on the year, while she is 7-6 in doubles.  Prokic is 8-7 in singles this year.
 
The Warhawks are led by Melissa Yakup Pour who is ninth nationally in singles this week after she went 2-1 last week at the top spot.  She dropped a 6-1, 6-3 decision to West Alabama's No. 15-ranked Shaira Rivera, before win over Delta State and Mississippi College's No. 5 Emily Buchanan.  Yakup Pour earned GSC Player of the Week for her efforts.  She is 13-10 on the year in singles and 11-9 in doubles.  She and teammate Nagisa Yonezawa are 27^thnationally in doubles as the duo is 11-9 on the year.  
 
AUM leads the all-time series 15-3 with VSU and has won the last two matches, both by the score of 4-3, last season in Montgomery, Ala., and the previous season in the conference tournament also in Montgomery.  In 2024, the Blazers snapped a four-match side and 10 of 11 with a 5-2 win over the Warhawks in Valdosta.  
 
Saint Leo will play No. 13 Rollins on Wednesday and No. 1 Barry on Saturday before hosting VSU on Sunday.  The Lions are 5-8 overall and 2-3 in Sunshine State Conference play before the aforementioned matches.  SLU is led by No. 43-ranked Deren Ozel who is 13-7 this year in singles and 13-7 in singles.  Candice Bernier is 58^th nationally and is 9-9 on the year, while she is 13-10 in doubles.  Bernier and Catherine Rabatin are 11-9 in doubles and are 19^thnationally. 
 
The Lions have won four of the last six matches in the series including four-straight.  SLU won 4-2 in Valdosta last season and won in Saint Leo in 2024, 4-2 also.  VSU came up with an 8-1 win in 2016 for its last win in the series.