NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The No. 17 ranked Vanderbilt men’s tennis team eyes a bounce-back performance on Sunday in its last doubleheader of the season against No. 7 LSU and Butler at the Lummis Family Tennis Center.
Vanderbilt (14-8, 4-6 SEC) dropped its fifth straight SEC contest after falling 4-1 to Kentucky on Friday. The Commodores will look to right the ship against the Tigers and produce their first top-10 win of the season. Junior Danil Panarin picked up the lone point of the contest against the Wildcats. The singles win was his second in a row and 12th total this year. Senior Nathan Cox remains atop the win column for Vanderbilt with a 15-6 overall record.
LSU (20-5, 6-4 SEC) comes into Nashville at fourth in the conference standings. The Tigers enter on a skid of their own, dropping consecutive matches for the first time all season to No. 6 Mississippi State and No. 23 Auburn. LSU is 4-2 in away matches this season. Although the Commodores trail the Tigers 52-25-1 in the all-time series, Vanderbilt owns a three match win streak in the matchup. The black and gold snatched a 4-3 victory in Baton Rouge last year. No. 24 Erik Arutiunian and No. 29 Olaf Pieczkowski are the lone Tigers in the ITA singles rankings. Arutiunian also represents LSU in the doubles rankings, coming in at No. 42 alongside Matias Ponce de Leon.
Butler (6-12, 0-3 Big East) visits Vanderbilt after a 4-3 loss to Illinois State on Friday. The Bulldogs are winless against Power 4 programs, having suffered 7-0 losses to Indiana and Louisville earlier this season. Sunday’s contest serves as the fifth meeting between the two programs; the Commodores are 4-0 thus far.
No. 17 Vanderbilt and No. 7 LSU are set to square off at 1 p.m. from the Lummis Family Tennis Center. The Commodores will face Butler to follow, with first serve at not before 6 p.m. Live streaming is available online with live stats accessible via IonCourt. For more information, updates and exclusive match day content, follow the Vanderbilt men’s tennis team, @VandyMTennis, on Instagram and X.
