NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Vanderbilt men’s tennis team was on fire Sunday afternoon, beating both Penn and Georgia State 6-1 and 4-2, respectively.
“I knew we were going to have to be hitting on all cylinders for both matches today,” said head coach Ian Duvenhage. “I was really happy with the first match against Penn. I think we beat a really solid team pretty handedly. Their coach remarked to me and said that he’s never lost a match in a hour and 39 minutes (laughs). So the guys are starting to show me things that are impressive. They’re coming out of the gates fast and ready to play. We’re winning first sets by large margin, and not letting up in the second set. We’re relentless and disciplined.”
The team came out strong in singles with all five Commodore victories coming in straight sets.
VU changed up doubles pairing against Penn, which proved advantageous as Pen Binet and Cameron Klinger handedly defeated the Quaker’s Nicholi Westergaard and Gabriel Rapoport 6-2. Penn leveled the score as the squad’s No. 3 doubles team defeated Daniel Valent and Billy Rowe, 6-3. With all eyes on court two, Baker Newman and Panu Virtanen came though for the black and gold sealing the point with a close 7-5 victory.
Individually, Newman was the first off the court after delivering Matt Nardella a hard loss. The junior only allowed one game in his 6-0, 6-1 win on court three. Rowe was soon to follow as the Coronado, Calif. native earned a 6-2, 6-1 win over Marshall Sharp on court five.
Both Valent and Klinger earned ranked wins against the Quakers as No. 97 Valent pulled off a 7-6(6), 6-4 victory over No. 112 Kyle Mautner and Klinger downed No. 99 Josh Pompan, 6-1, 6-2 to clinch the match. In addition to the ranked wins, the Commodores celebrated Virtanen as the freshman earned his first victory for the black and gold after defeating Westergaard 6-3, 6-4.
After dropping the doubles point and falling in singles on court four, the Commodores found themselves in an early 2-0 hole against Georgia State. Both courts one and two fell 6-2 to the Panthers while Valent and Rowe dominated court three against Felipe Jaworski/Quentin Coulaud, 6-1.
With the doubles loss in the back of their minds, courts one, two, three and five came out strong for VU.
“I was disappointed in doubles against Georgia State, but that’s going to happen every once in a while. Our guys didn’t panic or flinch. They came out in singles and did really well.”
Changing up the lineup, Klinger earned his first win at No. 1 singles for the Commodores with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Jannis Koeke. Newman leveled the score, 2-2, after downing Quentin Coulaud with a pair of 6-2 sets.
In a physical matchup on court two, Valent powered his way past Zach Kennedy, 6-2, 6-4. The final point of the night came from Rowe with a 6-3, 6-2 win on court five. The victory against Sebastian Acuno was his first clincher for Vanderbilt.
VU hits the road for the first time this upcoming weekend, competing in Chapel Hill, N.C. in the ITA Kickoff Weekend.
