Blazers to host NCAA tennis regional for 3rd straight year
Published 2:00 pm Wednesday, May 7, 2025
VALDOSTA — The No. 1-ranked Valdosta State men’s tennis team learned Monday evening it is the top seed in the NCAA Division II South Region men’s tennis championship, announced on NCAA.com.
The Blazers (20-0) will host one of two South Region sites with No. 4-seed Saint Leo, No. 5 Lee and No. 8 Spring Hill College on VSU’s side of the bracket, while No. 2-seed West Florida will host No. 3-seed Barry, along with No. 6-seed Florida Southern and No. 7-seed Mississippi College.
VSU will face No. 8-seed Spring Hill on Friday at 10 a.m. at the VSU Tennis Complex, followed by No. 4-seed Saint Leo facing No. 5-seed Lee at 2 p.m.
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. At UWF, No. 2-seed West Florida will face No. 7-seed Mississippi College, while No. 3-seed Barry battles No. 6-seed Florida Southern with the winners there also playing each other on Saturday for a berth in the Final Sixteen.
The 2025 NCAA Division II Men’s Tennis National Championship rounds will be May 20-24 at Sandlando Park in Altamonte Springs, Florida. 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 regional rounds.
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 30thappearance 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 11th-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 17th league title in program history for the most all-time in GSC history.
