NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Vanderbilt men’s tennis team suffered their first home loss of the season and second in two years as the No. 37 Memphis Tigers defeated VU by a score of 5-2.
Memphis got out to a strong start, winning on courts two and three in doubles after Cameron Klinger and Rhys Johnson took court one; 6-4.
In singles the Tigers carried momentum over from doubles, taking an early 3-0 lead with wins on courts two and four.
With the 3-0 lead in Memphis’ favor, Vanderbilt’s first point of the match came on court one as No. 64 Daniel Valent pulled out a first set tiebreaker 7-6(1) over No. 87 Andrew Watson, only to allow the sophomore one game in a 7-6(1), 6-1 ranked victory.
Memphis clinched the win on court five in three sets. Kris Yee rallied back in the second set to win 6-1 after falling in the first 6-0. The senior Commodore lost the third and final set 6-2.
With the match determined, both coaching staffs decided to play the remainder of the matches out for experience.
Sophomore Baker Newman earned VU its second point with a 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory over the Tigers’ Chris Patzanovsky on court three.
The Tigers earned their fifth and final point of the night at No. 6 singles as Ryan Smith took his opponent to the third three set match of the day; the Vandy junior fell; 3-6, 6-4, 1-0(5).
Vanderbilt will be back out on the courts this Sunday, taking on the No. 32 Harvard Crimson and 12:00 pm.
Memphis 5, Vanderbilt 2
Feb. 4, 2016
Doubles:
1) Rhys Johnson/Cameron Klinger (VU) def. Kai Lemke/Louis Asser (Memphis); 6-4
2) Ryan Peniston/Felix Rauch (Memphis) def. Pen Binet/Ryan Smith (VU); 6-4
3) Andrew Watson/Shakeel Manji (Memphis) def. Baker Newman/Daniel Valent (VU); 6-3
Finish: 1, 3, 2*
Singles:
1) No. 64 Daniel Valent (VU) def. Andrew Watson (Memphis); 7-6(1), 6-1
2) Ryan Peniston (Memphis) def. Rhys Johnson (VU); 6-2, 6-2
3) Baker Newman (VU) def. Chris Patzanovsky (Memphis); 1-6, 6-4, 6-4
4) Kai Lemke (Memphis) def. Cameron Klinger (VU); 6-2, 7-6(4)
5) Felix Rauch (Memphis) def. Kris Yee (VU); 0-6, 6-1, 6-2
6) Shakeel Manji (Memphis) def. Ryan Smith (VU); 6-3, 4-6, 1-0(5)
Finish: 2, 4, 1, 5*, 3, 6
