BATON ROUGE, La. – The 14th-ranked Vanderbilt men’s tennis team improved to 10-2 on Sunday with a 4-1 win over No. 73 LSU, Sunday afternoon at William “Dub” Robinson Stadium in Baton Rouge, La. Kris Yee clinched the match for the Commodores with a 6-2, 6-2 win at No. 4 singles.
Despite being just the second conference game of the season, the Commodores have already gone toe-to-toe with LSU this season. Vanderbilt knocked off the Tigers 4-1 in the consolation final of the ITA Kick-off weekend, in Nashville.
Vanderbilt (10-2, 2-0 SEC) had faced a 15-hour travel day on Saturday and was unable to hit prior to the match after leaving Fayetteville, Ark., around 6 a.m. and arriving in Baton Rouge at 9 p.m.
“I’m really proud of the guys,” said Vanderbilt head coach Ian Duvenhage. “We had a rough day of travel yesterday, but we came in and handled our situation well. It is difficult to go on the road and win in the SEC despite the ranking of the opposing team, so for us to go 2-0 this weekend makes me proud.”
Unlike the last time these two teams went at it, Vanderbilt was able to win the doubles point, picking up wins at No. 1 and No. 2.
Fifth-ranked Ryan Lipman and Gonzales Austin got things started with an 8-4 win over No. 20 Chris Simpson and Boris Arias. Rhys Johnson and Ryan Smith followed that up, snapping their three-match losing streak, clinching the point with an 8-6 win at No. 2.
LSU was able to tie things up after dropping doubles with a win at No. 6. Suresh Eswaran, making his third singles appearance in dual play and first against an SEC opponent, played at six for the Commodores and fell 3-6, 2-6, to LSU’s Harrison Kennedy.
Vanderbilt would then pick up wins at one and two to go up 3-0. No. 15 Austin knocked off 109th-ranked Simpson, 6-3, 6-3 at No. 1 to put the Dores up 2-0, before No. 122 Ryan Lipman won at No. 2 in straight sets over Boris Arias to set up the clinch.
Austin’s win puts him at 20-5 on the season. It is his third-straight season with at least 20 wins and he is the first Vandy player this season to reach that mark.
Yee clinched the victory for the Commodores with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Tam Trinh.
Johnson and Anton Kovrigin both went unfinished. Johnson was down in the second set after dropping the first and Kovrigin was tied 2-all in the third set.
Vanderbilt will return to action next weekend back in Nashville. On Friday the Commodores will face Ball State in their final non-conference match of the season before facing 13th-ranked Texas A&M on Sunday.
#14 Vanderbilt 4, #73 LSU 1
Singles competition
1. #15 Gonzales Austin (VU) def. #109 Chris Simpson (LSU) 6-3, 6-3
2. #122 Ryan Lipman (VU) def. Boris Arias (LSU) 7-5, 6-2
3. Andrew Korinek (LSU) vs. Rhys Johnson (VU) 6-2, 6-5, unfinished
4. Kris Yee (VU) def. Tam Trinh (LSU) 6-2, 6-2
5. Justin Butsch (LSU) vs. Anton Kovrigin (VU) 1-6, 6-2, 2-2, unfinished
6. Harrison Kennedy (LSU) def. Suresh Eswaran (VU) 6-3, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. #5 Ryan Lipman/Gonzales Austin (VU) def. #20 Chris Simpson/Boris Arias (LSU) 8-4
2. Rhys Johnson/Ryan Smith (VU) def. Tam Trinh/Justin Butsch (LSU) 8-6
3. Eric Perez/Andrew Korinek (LSU) vs. Suresh Eswaran/Kris Yee (VU) 5-6, unfinished
Match Notes:
Vanderbilt 10-2, 2-0 SEC; National ranking #14
LSU 6-5, 0-2 SEC; National ranking #73
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (6,1,2,4)
A-180
