Aug. 27, 2012
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Vanderbilt men’s tennis head coach Ian Duvenhage announced the 2012-13 schedule for the Commodores on Monday. The schedule is highlighted by 13 home events during the fall and spring seasons.
As usual, the schedule pits Vanderbilt against some of the toughest competition in the country. Nine teams, with eight of those coming from the SEC, are on the schedule for this year that were ranked in the top 25 at the end of last season.
“It’s a really tough schedule once again,” Duvenhage explained. “Obviously, competing in the SEC we have more teams ranked than any other conference. In addition to that we play Northwestern, Harvard, Indiana, Michigan State and Memphis, but I’ve always believed that if you want to be the best, you have to play against the best.”
The Commodores kick off the fall season in Athens, Ga., at the Southern Collegiates Sept. 7-10. Duvenhage and his squad then finish off the fall season with the ITA All-American in Tulsa, Okla., Sept. 29-Oct. 7, followed by a trip to Memphis, Tenn., for ITA Regionals Oct. 19-23 and then ITA Indoors in New York Nov. 8-11.
Vanderbilt will host the SEC Indoor Championships Jan. 11-14 to begin the spring season followed by two home duals with Butler (Jan. 18) and Michigan State (Jan. 20).
The team will travel to Athens, Ga., for the National Kick-Off Jan. 25-27.
During the month of February, the Commodores will host duals with Middle Tennessee State (Feb. 1), Tulane (Feb. 3), Memphis (Feb. 15) and Indiana (Feb. 24), while traveling to Chicago for a dual with Northwestern (Feb. 8) and Harvard (Feb. 10).
The Commodores are slated to kick their conference season off hosting LSU (March 1) and Arkansas (March 3) in the opening weekend of conference play, before they head to the one of the newest members of the conference, Texas A&M, on March 8th.
Vanderbilt will play every SEC member with the exception of Missouri because they do not field a men’s tennis team.
“We’re excited to play Texas A&M this year,” Duvenhage said. “They’re always a top-20 team, so they’ll make the conference that much better.”
Duvenhage has not faced the Aggies since coming to Vanderbilt, but coached against them several times during his tenure at Florida.
Besides the opening weekend, Vanderbilt’s home schedule includes matches against Georgia (March 22), Auburn (March 29), Alabama (March 31), and Kentucky (April 5). The Dores will face Mississippi State (March 15), Ole Miss (March 17), Tennessee (March 24), South Carolina (April 12) and Florida (April 14) on the road. Tennessee hosts both the men’s and women’s tennis teams on March 24th.
This year’s SEC Tournament will be held in Oxford, Miss., April 17-20.
The NCAA Regionals (site to be determined) will be held May 11-13, followed by the NCAA Final Sixteen May 16-27 in Champaign, Ill.
