NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Vanderbilt men’s tennis team defeated Middle Tennessee State 4-1 on Friday at the Currey Tennis Center to remain undefeated at home.
“I thought we did a great job today in singles,” Vanderbilt head coach Ian Duvenhage said. “We knew this team was going to challenge us.”
The Dores slipped in doubles play to Middle Tennessee with Commodore pair George Harwell and Max Freeman falling 6-3 at No. 2 followed by Christiaan Worst and Keaton Allwardt falling short at No. 3, 6-4.
Eager to make a comeback in singles play, Harwell stepped up at No. 1 in the lineup to win in straight sets 6-1, 6-4.
On court 2, senior Billy Rowe advanced the Dores’ lead to 2-1 with a straight set win 7-5, 6-2.
Sophomore Marcus Ferreira dominated at No. 4 to win 7-5, 6-4 pushing the Commodores to a 3-1 lead over the Blue Raiders.
With three courts remaining, senior Panu Virtanen clinched the match for the Commodores.
Coming back from a 3-6 defeat in the first set, Virtanen won 6-3, 6-2 in the final two sets to secure the match 4-1 for the Dores.
“Panu did a superb job to close out the win for us. I’m really happy with everybody’s performance today,” Duvenhage said.
Vanderbilt remains undefeated at home sporting a 3-0 home record. The Dores return to action Friday at the Currey Tennis Center to face Memphis.
