DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle men's tennis team returned to the Crotty Tennis Complex on Thursday to face #14 Valdosta State in a battle between two top-20 programs. After conceding the doubles point, the Blazers swept singles competition to win the match 4-1.
 
ERAU (1-3) started the day with a win at No. 3 doubles when the team of Mickael Faucher and Lucas Bos defeated Alex Holm and Robert Cizek, 6-3. At No. 2 doubles, Alexis Guedy and Andrej Omeragic were outmatched by Jordi Mas and Xavier Pineda, 6-4. The deciding match came at No. 1 doubles. Juan Ortiz Couder and Andres Donayre needed a tiebreaker to beat Yohan Nguyen and Florian Simbozel and they clinched the doubles point for the Eagles, 7-6 (5).
 
Valdosta State (1-3) took control in singles competition. The Blazers took a quick 2-1 lead after a 6-1, 6-0 victory at No. 4 singles and a 7-6 (2), win by retirement at No. 1 singles. Nguyen  beat Guedy at No. 3 singles 6-2, 6-2 to give Valdosta State a 3-1 lead. The match at No. 2 singles would need three sets. After splitting the first two sets 4-6, 6-4, Simbozel took a 5-0 lead over Donayre in the deciding set. Donayre tried to mount a comeback, winning four straight games; however, Simbozel would seal the win for the Blazers, 6-4.
 
Faucher and Holms split the first two sets of their match, 1-6, 6-0 at No. 5 singles, but they were unable to finish the match in the clinch-clinch format.
 
The Eagles will start conference play on Saturday when they travel to face Barry. The match will start at 2 p.m.