LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Vanderbilt men’s tennis held their own against No. 7 USC, but they fell short of advancing to the Los Angeles Region championship with a 4-2 loss to the Trojans. The USC side, made up of three players nationally-ranked in singles play and a nationally-ranked doubles pair, took the 1-0 lead over the Commodores by claiming the doubles point.
Senior Siim Troost evened the score, securing a point for Vanderbilt with a victory in straight sets on Court 5. Jeremie Casabon also came out victorious in singles play, winning two straight sets and grabbing a second point for the Commodores.
“We played well,” said Vanderbilt men’s tennis head coach, Ian Duvenhage. “Doubles was close. In singles, we had set points to win in the first set at No. 6 and we served for the first set at No. 2.
“If we find a way to convert on those chances, then we win four first sets against a top-10 team,” he added. “We’re right there—we just have to capitalize on our opportunities.”
Seeing Double
- The Dores dropped the first doubles match, with Nathan Cox and Michael Ross falling to USC’s Peter Makk and Lodewijk Weststrate, 6-3.
- The Trojans clinched the doubles point as 12th-ranked Stefan Dostanic and Bradley Frye defeated Troost and Casabon 6-3.
- Macsen Sisam and Joubert Klopper were in a tough battle against Wojtek Marek and Samuel Rubell of USC when their match was called at 4-3.
Testing Singles
- The momentum turned in favor of the Commodores when the first singles point of the afternoon was awarded to Vanderbilt senior Troost, who defeated Weststrate 6-3, 6-4.
- USC regained the lead 2-1 when No. 65 Frye topped Ross with the score of 6-3 in two straight sets.
- On Court 1, No. 79 Dostanic of USC saw a strong battle from Vanderbilt senior Klopper, but he ultimately came out on top with scores of 6-4, 6-3, extending Southern California’s lead to 3-1.
- The Dores bounced back with Casabon’s win over Marek. Casabon took two straight sets (6-4, 6-1), advancing the score to 3-2.
- Vanderbilt freshman Cox stood his ground against 38th-ranked Makk, pushing the first match to a tiebreak, 7-6 (3), but dropping the second 6-2.
- Court 7 featured the close matchup between Karl Lee of USC and Vanderbilt’s Sisam. Sisam dropped the first set to Lee after forcing the tiebreak, 7-6 (3), but was on course to claim the second set when it was called short at a score of 4-5.
On Deck: The Dores return to the courts Sunday afternoon for the second round of ITA Kickoff Weekend play, facing Memphis at 1 p.m. CT.
