PENSACOLA, Fla. - No. 9 UWF men's tennis (11-4, 5-1 GSC) completed its greatest accomplishment of the 2024 season to date, as it welcomed bitter rival and No. 2-ranked Valdosta State to the Ralph "Skeeter" Carson Tennis Complex on Saturday morning and sent the visitors home with a 4-3 loss.
 
The Argos get revenge for their loss to the Blazers last month at the ITA Division II National Men's Team Indoor Championship, as well as last season when VSU put UWF out of the national tournament in the NCAA South Regional Championship. The win is also the Argos' ninth in a year, as they have been on a tear since the second match of the GSC/Lone Star Crossover Tournament. UWF is almost assured to move up in the next national rankings on Wednesday ahead of the next three GSC matches in the current homestand. 
 
The Blazers drew first blood as Luca Mack and Christian Wedel topped Albin Ekenros and Joaquin Estevez 6-1 at No. 1 doubles, but it was equalized as Diego Duran and Sebastian Rondon won by the same score at No. 2 over Xaveam Van Wijk and Jerome Iaconi. In the rubber match of doubles, Tomas Leston and Sebastian Sotelo faced off against the No. 40 doubles team in the ITA national doubles rankings, Jan Skerbatis and Boruch Skierkier, and came out on top 6-4 to give their team the 1-0 lead heading into singles play.
 
Each singles match but the final one was settled in two sets. At the No. 3 position, Skierkier lived up to his No. 15 national and No. 3 regional rankings in taking down Ekenros 6-1, 6-2. Duran restored the lead for his team with a 6-4, 6-1 win at No. 4 over Wedel, as the El Salvador native improved to 10-1 overall in singles and 2-0, both in two sets, over the senior ranked No. 7 in the ITA South Region rankings in the former's first year of collegiate competition. Leston proceeded to win 6-4, 6-2 over Matteo Castellazzi to up the score to 3-1. 
 
After Takeshi Taco claimed a nationally ranked duel at No. 2 over Sotelo 7-5, 7-5, Iaconi drew his team even once again with a 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 win over Denilso Martinez at No. 5. It all came down to the No. 1 matchup between No. 21 Rondon and No. 26 Mack. After dropping the opening set 7-5, Rondon dug deep to win the second 6-4 and the clinching frame 6-3 to put Mack away and seal the deal for the Blue and Green.
 
The Argos can celebrate the huge victory for a few days before they are back at it, welcoming No. 22 Auburn Montgomery to town for another Top 25 GSC contest on April 3 at 1 pm.
 
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