MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Top-seeded and No. 2-ranked Valdosta State men's tennis team posted a 4-0 victory over No. 3-seed and No. 18-ranked Auburn Montgomery in the title match of the 2023 Gulf South Conference Men's Tennis Championship Saturday morning.
The Blazers improved to 17-0 on the year and earned the GSC's automatic bid to the NCAA postseason, scheduled to begin next weekend. This marked the 15th league championship for the Blazers, breaking a tie with West Florida for the most all-time in league history and is the fifth title for VSU in men's tennis in the past eight championships. VSU improved to 72-18 all-time in the GSC Championships and 15-12 all-time in the league championship match.
AUM, who qualified for its first conference title match in program history since joining the league, is 16-8 following the loss. The Warhawks were seventh in the latest NCAA South Region rankings, which were released last Wednesday.
The 2023 NCAA Division II Men's Tennis Championship Selection Show is scheduled for Monday, Apr. 24 at 8 p.m. ET on NCAA.com. VSU entered the conference championship as the top-ranked team in the region and likely will earn hosting duties for one of the two sites for the South Region on Monday. Check back with vstateblazers.com on Monday for a link to the Selection Show.
VSU got things off on the right foot with a win at doubles in this meeting, as AUM won the doubles point in the regular season meeting, with VSU then winning all six singles matches for a 6-1 victory on Apr. 5. On Saturday, however, sophomore Lamar Bartley and senior Christian Felline won 6-1 at No. 2 doubles over Muhamad Bedwan and Adrian Contreras. AUM's No. 3 duo of Titouan Le Maout and Thibault Jacq won 6-3 over juniors Christian Wedel and Pedro Cordeiro, coming down to the top match as No. 12 Blazer duo of juniors Luca Mack and Rodrigo Carvalho prevailed 6-4 over Joao Guariente and Giuseppe Bonaiuti to claim the team point.
Heading into singles play, Carvalho won 6-3, 6-3 at No. 2 over Bedwan for a 2-0 lead. Wedel, ranked No. 51 nationally, then downed Contreras, 6-1, 6-4, at No. 4 for a 3-0 lead and Mack, ranked No. 2 nationally, won 6-1, 6-3, at the top spot over Guariente for the championship.
The Blazers won the first set of each of the other three matches as Bartley won 6-2 and up 4-2 at No. 3 over Bonaiuti, while Felline won 6-3 and trailed 3-2 in the second set at No. 5 versus Le Maout and Cordeiro was up 6-4, 5-2 over Jacq at No. 6 when the match was clinched.
