Felline clinches No. 6 Blazers' win over No. 1 Barry

Mar. 5—VALDOSTA — Competing on consecutive days, No. 6 Valdosta State men's tennis went down to the wire with No. 1 Barry, winning 4-3 Sunday afternoon.

With the teams tied 3-3, it was VSU's Christian Felline that came through in the clutch. The senior from Biella, Italy defeated Barry's Arnau Rodriguez 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 to lift the Blazers over the Buccaneers for the second straight year.

"I started the match and I was pretty in control. Also, the second set, I thought was going smoothly but then the momentum of the match changed a little bit," Felline said. "I missed a couple of easy shots and he got back into the match. That third set — fortunately after the second set, I went to the bathroom. I tried to reset everything and after that, I just came back to the court completely locked in and it worked out.

"I've been super strong, super solid and the end was just mental more than all the rest. It was just being strong mentally. That was the key."

With temperatures climbing into the low 80s, the conditions on court were very warm — particularly on the back side of the VSU Tennis Complex where Felline and Rodriguez were competing.

Without as much shade to keep cool, the heat was an obstacle both players had to navigate.

"I have to say that (Saturday) we played as well and I felt warmer," Felline said. "And I've also been bad on court. I had cramps, so today I probably managed my energy a little bit better. Of course, the heat is a factor. We have to be able to manage our energy because if you play 100% every point with this heat, it's tough. It's important to know where to push and where to slow down a little bit."

In No. 1 singles, VSU's Luca Mack of Germany overcame a strong second set from Alejandro Gallego to win 6-3, 3-6, 6-1. The win brought the score to 3-3 and effectively put the Blazers' fate on Felline's racket.

Mack, the No. 2-ranked player in Division II Men's ITA, said he felt he needed to get off to a good start in the warmer conditions.

"Today, I think besides yesterday was the first two days where we really had hot weather in a match and tough conditions so I think it was important to start good and get momentum," Mack said. "I won the first 6-3 then he started playing a little bit better. I lost 3-6 and then I had a good start in the third set. I had a lead at 4-1 and broke him again and I served it out luckily. I was pretty happy with that and overall I'm happy about the win and all the other guys who pulled it out. It was really good."

Mack continued, "It's always tough when it's hot. On hard courts, it gets even hotter. At 12 p.m., it was directly in the noon heat. It's always tough. You have to drink a lot, but we prepare the whole week trying to drink a lot, trying to get electrolytes in and trying to be prepared when we play two or three times in a row. More than that, you cannot really do much more when you've prepared in the offseason."

The Blazers needed to rally after a tough start to the day in doubles.

The No. 1 doubles team of Mack and Brazilian junior Rodrigo Carvalho lost to Gallego and Rodriguez 6-4 while the No. 2 doubles team of Lamar Bartley and Felline lost to Alejandro Palacios and Alessandro Giuliato 6-2.

The Blazers managed to avoid a doubles shutout as No. 3 Pedro Cordeiro and Christian Wedel defeated Adam Lynch and Bastien Rieme 6-2.

Rebounding from their doubles performance, the Blazers dominated in singles as Carvalho defeated Giuliato in straight sets 7-5, 6-2 while Wedel beat Alessio Demichelis in three sets 2-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Bartley fell to Palacios in No. 3 singles 6-2, 7-6 while Cordeiro lost to Rieme 6-2, 6-2 in No. 6 singles.

With Sunday's win over Barry, the Blazers are off to a 3-0 start this season — having beaten Georgia College and No. 10 Lynn to this point.

Toppling the No. 1 team in the country — the three-time reigning Division II national champions — is certainly a confidence-builder, but Felline acknowledges there is much work to be done for the Blazers to try to claim their first national title since 2012.

"Of course, it's a big confidence for us because they are ranked No. 1 in the nation. They won the last three D-II championships. They did a three-peat, so they definitely are the team to beat and we did it," Felline said. "But just remember that OK, this victory has to give us confidence but it's just a match in the regular season. We'll take it. We are happy about this. We've got confidence now, but we've won nothing so we have to keep going."

UP NEXT

The Blazers return to action Thursday against Tuskegee at 2 p.m.

Shane Thomas is the sports editor at the Valdosta Daily Times.