LEXINGTON, K.Y. —The 23rd-ranked Vanderbilt men’s tennis team suffered a 4-1 road loss against No. 22 Kentucky Sunday afternoon inside the Boone Tennis Center.
With the loss, Vanderbilt falls to 16-6 overall and 6-4 in Southeastern Conference play.
The Commodores earned their point of the day in doubles action. No. 52 Billy Rowe and Cameron Klinger earned a swift 6-3 upset over UK’s 41st-ranked Gus Benson and Cesar Bourgois on court one. However, the Wildcats leveled the doubles opportunity, taking court three over George Harwell and Baker Newman in a tight 7-5 victory.
With doubles tied, the point advantage rested on the result of the No. 2 doubles match. Down 5-2, Vandy’s No. 71 Panu Virtanen and Lachlan McPhee powered back into the competition to send the match to a tiebreaker. The Commodore duo took the tiebreaker for the 1-0 Vanderbilt lead, 7-6(5).
Forced to play inside due to weather, VU’s top four singles players began play with two key players, Maxwell Freeman and Harwell, having to wait to begin competition. The Wildcats strung together four consecutive victories on courts one through four to clinch the 4-1 victory.
In a top-30 matchup, Kentucky’s 26th-ranked Ryo Matsumura downed No. 25 Klinger 6-1, 6-1 to level the overall team score, 1-all. UK’s No. 116 Trey Yates earned the Wildcats the 2-1 lead in a straight-set victory over Newman on court three. Newman nearly pulled through the second set to force a third, however Yates earned key points late in the match to ensure the win in two sets, 6-1, 6-4.
Facing his fourth ranked opponent of the dual season, Rowe came up short against No. 115 Enzo Wallert on court four. Rowe suffered his fourth SEC loss of the year, falling 6-1, 6-3.
After dropping his first set, 6-3, No. 45 Daniel Valent powered through his second set against fellow senior No. 54 Will Bushamuka to force a third set and keep the match alive. Bushamuka pulled away late in the third set for the victory on court two and the match clinch, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.
Both Commodore freshmen were in the lead at the conclusion of match play. Freeman led Kento Yamada 6-4, 4-3 on court five, while Harwell had just earned his first set on court six over Austin Hussey, 7-5.
The Commodores cap the regular season next weekend on the road, facing Georgia on Friday and Tennessee on Sunday.
