April 7, 2018
The 23rd-ranked Vanderbilt men’s tennis team faces the No. 22 Kentucky Wildcats in the team’s lone competition of the weekend on Sunday at 12 p.m. CT in Lexington, Ky.
VU heads into the weekend with a 16-5 overall record, going 6-3 in Southeastern Conference play. The Commodores capped regular season home play last weekend, falling to ninth-ranked, Texas A&M and sweeping LSU on Senior Day.
All of VU’s losses have come against top-20 teams, with four of the five setbacks coming in tight 4-3 decisions (at No. 1 Wake Forest, at No. 17 Columbia, No. 12 Florida and No. 9 Texas A&M).
Commodore Notables
- The Dores have been ranked in the ITA top 25 for a month straight
- The Dores have two ranked singles players; No. 25 Cameron Klinger and No. 45 Danny Valent
- Klinger and Billy Rowe rank 52nd in the ITA’s latest doubles poll, while Lachlan McPhee and Panu Virtanen come in at 71st
- Valent is nearing VU’s all-time singles victories record (107), sitting at 105 entering the weekend
- Previously this season, VU capped a 10-match win streak with a win over South Carolina
- The 10-match win streak was the longest since the 2002-03 season when the team went 27-4, won the SEC tournament and reached an NCAA championship final
Watching the Wildcats
- Kentucky sits 13-8 overall and 6-3 in conference play
- The Wildcats have dropped their last two matches, falling to Texas A&M and Ohio State
- Sunday’s battle will be between the No. 22 and No. 23 teams in the nation
- UK boasts four ranked singles players; No. 26 Ryotaro Matsumura, No. 54 William Bushamuka, No. 115 Enzo Wallart and No. 116 Trey Yates
- The Wildcats boast two doubles team; Cesar Bourgois and Gus Benson (41) and Trey Yates and Enzo Wallart (69)
- Kentucky picked up a 4-3 victory in last season’s battle against the Dores
