Valdosta State’s Konstantin Kutschenko serves a ball during a match at VSU’s tennis courts on Saturday. Kutschenko won his match, 6-2, 6-4.

The defending Division II national champion Valdosta State Blazers opened their 2012 tennis season with a 7-2 victory over Alabama-Huntsville on Saturday at the VSU tennis courts.

The Blazers won two of their three doubles matches, then took five of six singles matches on their way to their first victory of the season.

Christian Hansen, a senior, and Konstantin Kutschenko, a junior, were the two only players from last year’s team that played on Saturday. But a talented freshman class performed well, for the most part, in their VSU debut.

“We’ve got eight people on the team, and five of them are freshmen,” Valdosta State head coach John Hansen said. “We have a lot of potential, and (these freshmen will get better) with experience.”

The Blazers grabbed the early lead by winning two of three doubles matches. In the No. 1 doubles match, Christian Hansen and Taamo Haake defeated UAH’s Daniel Canellas and Christopher Kano, 9-7. At No. 2 doubles, Kutschenko and Sebastian Jasyk beat Raphael Oliveira and Bruno Medeiros, 8-6. Alabama-Huntsville won the No. 3 doubles match, 9-7.

Christian Hansen won the No. 1 singles match, 6-1, 6-2, over Canellas. Kutschenko won at No. 2 singles, 6-2, 6-4, over Kano. VSU’s Niklas Herbring defeated Oliveira, 6-2, 6-0, at No. 3 singles.

Jasyk beat Medeiros, 6-3, 7-5, at No. 4 singles. Haake beat Marcos Rivera, 6-2, 6-3, in the No. 6 singles match. UAH’s lone singles win came at No. 5 singles, where Guillermo Reyes won 6-2, 6-3.

Valdosta State’s women were even more dominant, winning 8-1.

“It was good for the girls,” Coach Hansen said. “We knew the girls were going to be better this year, because (they have another year of experience).”

The Lady Blazers won all three doubles matches. VSU’s Michelle Fischer and Juliana Boehm defeated Maria Lawton and Kasi McDonald, 8-2, at No. 1 doubles. Tina Trautmann (who has returned to the Lady Blazers after taking last year off) and Maja Ehses beat Alejandra Pacheco and Melanie Junod, 8-3, at No. 2 doubles. In the No. 3 doubles match, Leslie Roberge and Nicole Hernandez earned an 8-2 victory over Lina Carvajal and Adriana Buitrago.

VSU then won five of its six singles matches. Sarah Braun beat Junod, 6-4, 6-1, at No. 1 singles. Fischer took down Lawton at No. 2 singles, 6-1, 6-1. In the No. 3 singles match, Boehm beat Carvajal, 6-0, 6-2.  Ehses beat Pacheco at No. 4 singles, 6-1, 6-1. UAH’s only win was at No. 5 singles, where Buitrago prevailed 6-2, 7-5.

Roberge was celebrating her 21st birthday on Saturday, and she celebrated it with wins in both singles and doubles. In the No. 6 singles match, she defeated Amanda Bevis 6-0, 6-1.