COLUMBUS, Ohio — After a hard-fought match, the Vanderbilt men’s tennis team fell on Friday to No. 34 Oklahoma State at the Ty Tucker Tennis Center in the first round of the NCAA Regional.
“Congrats to Oklahoma State on their performance today and advancing,” said Vanderbilt head coach Scott Brown. “Dustin Taylor has done a phenomenal job building their program up and they deserved the match today. On our end, I could not be more proud of this team. Not just today but over the whole season and past 9 months. From where we started back in August to now has been a night and day difference.”
After a brief rain delay, doubles began with Vanderbilt in the lead on Court 2. Joubert Klopper and Michael Ross led 4-2 to Alex Garcia and Francisco Pini. First to finish on Court 1 was the No. 70 duo Nathan Cox and Jeremie Casabon, who fell 6-3 in a duel to the Cowboys’ 10th-ranked Tyler Zink and Isaac Becroft. Klopper and Ross’ match was left unfinished when Danil Panarin and Hugo Coquelin were defeated on Court 3 by Alessio Basile and Leighton Allen.
“Today we showed how strong our culture is,” said Brown. “Oklahoma State came out and played a great doubles point and great first sets on all 6 singles courts. It’s a testament to how strong our culture is with how our guys responded by coming back and winning 5 second sets.”
The Cowboys led 1-0 going into singles play. Play was suspended more than once to wait out the rain, and the Dores were down on all six courts in first sets. After losing first sets, Ross and Coquelin came back to take the second set on Courts 5 and 6, and the Commodores were up on Courts 1, 2 and 3. Coquelin claimed the lone point for the Dores and the first in singles, and defeated his Cowboy opponent 2-6, 6-0, 6-1. Cox and Klopper also pulled ahead in the second set to force thirds, but it wasn’t enough. Shortly after, Ross fell to Basile on Court 5, alongside Panarin on Court 1. Erik Schiessl sealed the victory for the Cowboys when he defeated Casabon in the second set, and the Dores fell to Oklahoma State 4-1.
“We just didn’t quite have enough today. But what a great experience for this team and program in making the NCAA tourney for the first time in 5 years– A great platform to help us build off of for the future. Finally, I would like to recognize our six seniors/fifth years in Jeremie, Joubert, Connor, Juan, Callum and Alex. Without them buying into what we are trying to build, we would not have been here today playing in May.”
Singles
1. #24 Zink (Oklahoma State) def. #45 Panarin 6-1, 3-6, 6-0
2. Cox (Vanderbilt) vs. #82 Becroft 3-6, 7-5, 1-4, unfinished
3. Klopper (Vanderbilt) vs. #109 Garcia 1-6, 7-6 (8), 2-1, unfinished
4. Schiessl (Oklahoma State) def. Casabon 6-4, 7-6 (4)
5. Basile (Oklahoma State) def. Ross 6-1, 1-6, 7-5
6. Coquelin (Vanderbilt) def. Pini 2-6, 6-0, 6-1
Doubles
1. #10 Zink/Becroft (Oklahoma State) def. #70 Casabon/Cox 6-3
2. Ross/Klopper (Vanderbilt) vs. Garcia/Pini 4-5, unfinished
3. Basile/Allen (Oklahoma State) def. Panarin/Coquelin 6-3
Up Next: The Commodores conclude their season ranked No. 42 nationally. Danil Panarin will compete in the NCAA Men’s Single’s Championships at the end of May.
