PENSACOLA, Fla. – The No. 7 ranked West Florida Men's Tennis team will kick off their 24th straight NCAA Tournament appearance on Saturday when they take on the No. 2 seeded Valdosta State. As the No. 3 seed in the South Regional, the Argonauts will look to take down the Blazers when they face each other for the third time on Saturday.

In the previous two matchups with the familiar conference foe Valdosta State, the Blazers came out on top in each matchup propelling them to the No. 2 seed in this regional. In the first matchup Valdosta State won 5-2 from Valdosta, Ga. while in the second meeting the Blazers won 4-2 in the GSC Tournament Championship match a few weekends ago.

West Florida is looking to repeat the magic that happened the last time they played in the South Regional when they won the South Region No. 2 beating Valdosta State 4-2 in the championship match.

This year's tournament will be unlike any in the past due to changes made for the health and safety of these student athletes due to COVID-19. Instead of the typical two south regionals, this year will feature one five team field with just the champion advancing to Surprise, Ariz. for the National Championship.

About the Argonauts – West Florida enters Saturday's matchup with a 16-5 record on the season including five wins over ranked opponents so far on the year. Ranked as high as No. 3 during the regular season, the Argonauts will enter the NCAA Tournament as the No. 7 ranked team in the country according to the latest ITA rankings.

On the season doubles has been a strong suit of the Argonauts winning the lone point in all but two matches on the season. This success was capped by a 15-match win streak in doubles play that stretched the span of two months.

Serdar Bojadjiev and partner Lluis Mirrales Miro have been on fire as the No. 2 pairing winning their last four matches en route to their 9-2 record as a pair. William Shkrob and Nicolas Lecoutre have been another strong pairing all season for the Argonauts going 16-4 on the season primarily from the No. 3 position.

Singles play has seen a number of players step up throughout the season with different positions picking up huge wins in each match. As of late, Bojadjiev has been play phenomenal from the top of the lineup while Juan Cabrera has stayed unbeaten playing primarily from the No. 3 position.

Bojadjiev in his last ten matches has gone 8-2 including wins in his last five matches with two of those being over ranked opponents. Cabrera has been another mainstay in the win column all season for the Argonauts going 17-0 in singles play throughout the year.

About the Blazers – Valdosta State enters Saturday's match on a seven-match win streak including a GSC Tournament Championship win their last time out. On the season, the Blazers are 15-1 and have risen up the national rankings all the way to the No. 3 spot in the latest ITA rankings.

Doubles has taken some time for the Blazers to find their footing, but a big doubles victory against the Argonauts in their last outing has them riding high into regional play.

Florian Simbozel and Yohan Nguyen lead the charge for the Blazers in doubles going 12-2 on the season from the No. 1 position for Valdosta State. This success has led this pairing to be ranked as the No. 1 doubles pair in the nation in the latest rankings.

In singles, the Blazers have been dominant from every position of their lineup and have an overall singles record of 71-14 on the year. This success is led by Nguyen, Simbozel, and Christian Wedel who are all ranked within the Top-50 of the national rankings.

Nguyen, who is ranked No. 5 in the nation, has gone 9-3 for the Blazers playing from their top spot. Simbozel, who is ranked No. 10 in the nation, is unbeaten on the year from the No. 2 position going 14-0 on the season. Lastly, Wedel has gone 13-1 for Valdosta State from primarily the No. 3 position which is good enough to see him ranked as the No. 35 player in the nation.

Updated ITA Rankings – Today the Intercollegiate Tennis Association released updated Team, Singles, and Doubles rankings for Division II. In these updated rankings the Argonauts did see some movement as they went from No. 8 to No. 7 as a team.

Bojadjiev went from No. 39 in the nation in singles to No. 29 after an impressive stretch of matches since the last rankings. Bandeira and Gabriel Nery find themselves ranked in doubles once again in this release coming in as the No. 22 pair in the nation.

Weekend Schedule - Saturday's semifinal match with Valdosta State is scheduled for 10 AM (CST) from the Ralph "Skeeter" Carson Tennis Complex here in Pensacola. With a win, the Argonauts would advance to the Championship match on Sunday where they would play the winner of the other semifinals match at Noon on Sunday.

Fans will be permitted for this regional tournament; however, prescreening will be required when you arrive at the tennis complex. Fans may not have any physical interaction with the athletes this weekend but are encouraged to come out and cheer them on.

How to Follow the Argos: For complete information on UWF Tennis, follow the team on Twitter and Instagram at @TennisUWF on Twitter and @uwfmenstennis on Instagram.