PENSACOLA – The Valdosta State men’s tennis team strung together a stellar weekend in Gulf South Conference action in Pensacola, Fla. that included a perfect 4-0 run against league opponents.
Action began on Saturday morning in Florida for the Blazers against Delta State, where Valdosta State handled the Statesmen with a convincing 5-0 win. Valdosta State picked up three straight wins in doubles play in the showdown, and sealed the match with solo wins by Gereon Heitmann at No. 2 and Fernando Rivas at No. 3.
Later in the day, VSU closed out the Saturday sweep with their second shutout, a 6-0 victory over Christian Brothers. Leo Blayteamed up with Pineda and Andrew Harvin in the first three positions of singles play for dominating victories, which buried the Bucs after the Blazers swept CBU in doubles play.
On Sunday, North Alabama proved to be VSU’s most formidable opponent on the weekend, but Head Coach John Hansen‘s squad weathered the storm after losing two out of three doubles matches, before firing back with a strong performance in singles action.
Trailing 2-1 in the contest, Blay picked up his second win of the weekend with a 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 1, before Heitmann put the Blazers back on top with a 7-5, 6-1 win at No. 2 over Millington Herrmann. North Alabama evened the match up again after Miguel Garcia took down Fernando Rivas 6-2, 6-4 at No. 3, but Jordi Mas reclaimed momentum with a gutsy 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 win at No. 4. Pineda and Niklas Herbring helped seal the 6-3 victory over the Lions with wins at No. 5 and No. 6, respectively.
In VSU’s final match of the weekend, the Blazers blew away the Choctaws of Mississippi College with a 5-0 win. Herbring and Mas sparked the shutout with an 8-1 win at No. 1 doubles, followed by Pineda and Blay at No. 2 and Heitmann and Rivas and No. 3, who each claimed victories for the red and black.
The match concluded with Heitmann’s 6-2, 6-2 win at No. 2 singles and Rivas’ 6-1, 6-3 triumph at No. 3
With the win, the No. 8 ranked Blazers improved to 11-4 overall and 7-1 in GSC play on the year. For full results of the weekend action, visit the 2016 men’s tennis statistics page.
Valdosta State returns to Pensacola this weekend for another conference matchup against the West Alabama Tigers. The neutral contest is slated for a 2:00 p.m. start.
