NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The No. 23 Vanderbilt men’s tennis team improved their record to 7-2 with a 6-1 victory over the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders.
“I thought it was a good match”, said associate head coach Jamie Hunt. “I thought doubles was better. We really focused on doubles this past week and we’re pleased with the improvements we made today.”
After losing both doubles points last weekend, the Commodores got back on track with the help of a solid showing on court three. Senior Suresh Eswaran and freshman Daniel Valent defeated the Blue Raider’s Zymantovich/Riethmueller in an easy 6-2 victory. The No. 5 doubles team in the country had difficulty against MTSU’s Hoang/Born, but clinched the win for Vandy, 7-5.
In singles action Baker Newman advanced the match score to 2-0 with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Gian Issa. The dual-match victory broke Newman’s three-match losing streak, and was the freshman’s first as a Commodore.
Gonzales Austin cruised through his first set, 6-2, on the way to his eighth win in a row for the Commodores; 6-2, 7-6(6). With the win, the senior is now just five wins away from surpassing the individual career singles school record set by Bobby Reynolds with 99 wins.
Vanderbilt’s success continued as Danny Valent finished third with a 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 victory over Gian Issa. The freshman is now on a 12-match win streak. Valent, Kris Yee and Rhys Johnson all over powered their opponents in three set victories. Suresh Eswaran was the last Commodore to finish his No. 6 singles match, falling in a 10-point tiebreaker, 6-1, 3-6, 1-0 (13).
“In singles we had some really close matches, but for us to pull out a 6-1 win is nice against a good team. We won three three-set matches, which is always great.”
The Commodores take a brief hiatus from competition, and then travel to Cambridge, Mass. to take on Minnesota Feb. 20th and Harvard Feb. 22nd.
“It’s really strange that we have a two week period in the middle of the season where we don’t have matches, so we’re going to rest up and then we’re going to work them really hard. We plan to focus on fitness and try to keep improving on the little stuff. That’s really been our goal the whole year, just get better every day and that’s what we’re going to try to do.”
Vanderbilt 6, MTSU 1
Doubles
Finish: (3, 1)
1) No. 5 Gonzales Austin/Rhys Johnson (VU) def. Yannick Born/Victor Hoang (MTSU); 7-5
2) Baker Newman/Ryan Smith (VU) vs. Ettore Zito/Ben Davis (MTSU); 4-4
3) Suresh Eswaran/Daniel Valent (VU) def. Dima Zyhmantovich/Robin Riethmeller (MTSU); 6-2
Singles
Finish: (5, 1, 4, 3, 2, 6)
1) No. 10 Gonzales Austin (VU) def. Ben Davis (MTSU); 6-2, 7-6 (6)
2) No. 73 Rhys Johnson (VU) def. Ettore Zito (MTSU); 6-4, 3-6, 6-2
3) Kris Yee (VU) def. Dima Zyhmantovich (MTSU); 3-6, 6-2, 6-2
4) Daniel Valent (VU) def. Victor Hoang (MTSU); 3-6, 6-1, 6-3
5) Baker Newman (VU) def. Gian Issa (MTSU); 6-2, 6-2
6) Robin Riethmueller (MTSU) def. Suresh Eswaran (VU); 6-1, 3-6, 1-0 (13)
