FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — It was another comeback win for the No. 11 ranked Vanderbilt men’s tennis team, who fended off Arkansas 4-3 at the Billingsley Tennis Center on Friday.
“Again, I’m speechless watching this team perform,” head coach Scott Brown said. “These guys just hang around and hang around. They stay the course, and when the opponent leaves the door open, when they show a little chink in their armor, we step on them. It’s a sign of a great team, one that can win matches when they’re not playing their best. We still haven’t played a match where I felt like we’ve played our best tennis, but we’re doing the most important thing: not making it about just tennis and focusing on things we can control with our fight and our grit.”
After dropping the early doubles point to the Razorbacks, Arkansas (11-6, 0-4 SEC) continued to take control with a 6-1, 6-3 win at its No. 6 position to open singles play. From there, the comeback mentality began to show once more for the Commodores. Freshman Jack Satterfield got the ball rolling at No. 5 singles, downing Dmitry Kopilevich 6-2, 6-3. Junior Danil Panarin evened the score 2-2 behind a 6-3, 6-3 win over Gabriel Elicha Navas. Vanderbilt (12-3, 4-1 SEC) again fell behind after suffering a loss at the top position. Senior Nathan Cox, the team’s leader in singles wins, got the Dores back within striking distance with a 6-3, 5-7, 6-1 victory against Ben Weintraub.
For the second time in the last four matches, freshman Hoyoung Roh was called upon to deliver in the clutch. And once again, the freshman produced when his name was called. Roh overcame a 6-2 defeat in the first set to Lukas Palovic, taking the next frames 7-5 and 6-3 to clinch the match for Vanderbilt. The win marks the fourth straight for the Dores and moves the black and gold atop the updated SEC standings.
“We keep finding that extra gear, and the team knows they have that extra gear when the moments count,” Brown said. “They know how to tap into it when they need to, and again, that’s a sign of a great team. They embrace adversity and they know when to step it up. Moving forward into Sunday, we have to come out better and with more energy. I did not think our energy was good enough to start today’s match. But regardless, I’m super proud of our guys, and in the end we found a way to win in a tough environment.”
Vanderbilt rounds out its four-match road trip in Oxford, Mississippi for a battle with the Rebels at 1 p.m. on Sunday. For more information, updates and exclusive match day content, follow the Vanderbilt men’s tennis team, @VandyMTennis, on Instagram and X.
No. 11 Vanderbilt 4, No. 41 Arkansas 3
Doubles
1. Eric Padgham/Weintraub [Arkansas] def. No. 49 Cox/Roh [Vanderbilt] 6-4
2. No. 28 Connor Smillie/Jakub Vrba [Arkansas] vs. Pablo Martinez Gomez/Panarin [Vanderbilt] 5-2, unfinished
3 Brendan Boland/Kopilevich [Arkansas] def. Hugo Coquelin/Satterfield [Vanderbilt] 6-2
Singles
1. No. 21 Vrba [Arkansas] def. No. 115 Martinez Gomez [Vanderbilt] 6-2, 7-6 (9)
2. No. 90 Hoyoung [Vanderbilt] def. Palovic [Arkansas] 2-6, 7-5, 6-3
3. Panarin [Vanderbilt] def. Elicha Navas [Arkansas] 6-3, 6-3
4. Cox [Vanderbilt] def. Weintraub [Arkansas] 6-3, 5-7, 6-1
5. Satterfield [Vanderbilt] def. Kopilevich [Arkansas] 6-2, 6-3
6. Boland [Arkansas] def. Coquelin [Vanderbilt] 6-1, 6-3
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1); Singles (6,5,3,1,4,2)
