NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vanderbilt men’s tennis put together a 4-1 comeback win over Michigan State before downing Lipscomb 7-0 in Sunday’s doubleheader from the Lummis Family Tennis Center.
“The mentality is that this is our house,” head coach Scott Brown said. “That’s the mentality we want to carry into all matches, but especially when you’re at home in front of your fans. You have to bring that extra edge, extra grit and be willing to leave it all on the court for your team. […] We’re building this program up day by day, and it starts with culture. That’s where the focus is and where the details matter.”
The Commodores have now won 10 straight home matches dating back to last season, their longest stretch since 2018. Sunday’s 4-1 victory over the Spartans marked the first in the series since 2019; Vanderbilt (8-2) now holds the all-time series lead 4-3. Senior Nathan Cox continued his career-best singles run, moving to 9-0 in dual match play.
It was another tough doubles point for Vandy, who dropped matches at Courts 1 and 3 to fall into a 1-0 hole early. Despite the momentum favoring Michigan State (1-5), it was the Commodores who set the tone in singles by taking a first set lead at four of the five available courts. After evening it up at No. 2 singles with a win by retirement, Vanderbilt grabbed its first advantage of the contest after Cox downed David Saye 6-3, 6-3. Freshman Jack Satterfield brought the score to 3-1 moments later with a 6-3, 7-5 defeat of Mitchell Sheldon. In full control, junior Danil Panarin delivered the clinching point for the Dores, sinking Taym Alazmeh 7-6 (7), 6-2.
“I liked how our team responded from losing that doubles point,” Brown said. “That’s one thing this team has done better than last year. At times last season, it felt like we needed the doubles point to set the tone and stay in the match. This team has shown its ability to bounce back and be resilient. And that’s what our guys did in singles today – I was very proud of how they stepped up.”
In the following match against Lipscomb (4-2), the Bisons looked to strike in doubles after collecting a 7-5 win at the top position. Vanderbilt fended off the early blow behind two 6-4 victories at Courts 2 and 3. The Dores remained in control throughout singles play. Cox and Satterfield picked up their second singles wins of the day while freshmen Hwang Donghyun and Cayden Wang notched their second of the dual match season. Senior Tighe Brunetti added the last Vandy point to the board in a 6-1, 6-2 takedown of Oliver Thoeny.
“With our next match, Tennessee, we’ll be switching from indoors to outdoors, so that’s the biggest adjustment,” Brown said. “But nothing changes week-to-week in terms of the mindset – you have to take the same approach. You can’t amplify one match over another, the process has to remain the same. And that’s where victories come from, is going about each day the same way. That’s why we go about things the way we do, that’s why we’re here at Vanderbilt: for the adversity.”
Vanderbilt now gears up for SEC play, with their conference home opener coming up on Feb. 23 against Tennessee (5-4). For more information, updates and exclusive game day content, follow the Vanderbilt men’s tennis team, @VandyMTennis, on Instagram and X.
Vanderbilt 4, Michigan State 1
Doubles
1. No. 21 Alazmeh/Danial Rakhmatullayev [Michigan State] def. Pablo Martinez Gomez/Hoyoung Roh [Vanderbilt] 6-3
2. Hugo Coquelin/Cox [Vanderbilt] vs. Matthew Forbes/Saye [Michigan State] 4-5, unfinished
3. Sheldon/Aristotelis Thanos [Michigan State] def. Panarin/Satterfield [Vanderbilt] 6-4
Singles
1. No. 93 Martinez Gomez [Vanderbilt] vs. No. 9 Forbes [Michigan State] 6-7 (5-7), 5-2, unfinished
2. Hoyoung [Vanderbilt] def. Thanos [Michigan State] 6-3, 2-0, retired
3. Panarin [Vanderbilt] def. Alazmeh [Michigan State] 7-6 (7), 6-2
4. Cox [Vanderbilt] def. Saye [Michigan State] 6-3, 6-3
5. Satterfield [Vanderbilt] def. Sheldon [Michigan State] 6-3, 7-5
6. Coquelin [Vanderbilt] vs. Rakhmatullayev [Michigan State] 4-4, unfinished
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (2,4,5,3)
Vanderbilt 7, Lipscomb 0
Doubles
1. Facundo Perlov/Alexander Vlahos [Lipscomb] def. Cox/Hoyoung [Vanderbilt] 7-5
2. Martinez Gomez/Panarin [Vanderbilt] def. Henrique Ushizima/Filippo Verdese [Lipscomb] 6-4
3. Coquelin/Satterfield [Vanderbilt] def. Oskar Szymczak/Thoeny [Lipscomb] 6-4
Singles
1. Cox [Vanderbilt] vs. Perlov [Lipscomb] 6-0, 6-2
2. Satterfield [Vanderbilt] def. Verdese [Lipscomb] 7-6 (5), 6-1
3. Hwang [Vanderbilt] def. Vlahos [Lipscomb] 6-4, 6-3
4. Callum Markowitz [Vanderbilt] def. Ushizima [Lipscomb] 6-3, 6-3
5. Wang [Vanderbilt] def. Szymczak [Lipscomb] 6-1, 7-6 (4)
6. Brunetti [Vanderbilt] vs. Thoeny [Lipscomb] 6-1, 6-2
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (1,4,3,5,2,6)
