Nov. 6, 2016
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Vanderbilt men’s tennis team concluded tournament season Sunday morning at the SEC Coaches Classic.
VU capped the tournament with one round of singles as Tate Allwardt and Panu Virtanen picked up their final singles wins of the fall.
“Really strong finish for Tate and Panu today,” said associate head coach Jamie Hunt. “Overall it was an excellent tournament in singles for Tate. Going 3-1 with his one loss to a ranked player is good and that was a match he very easily could’ve won. I liked a lot of what I saw from Panu this tournament as well. It was a good finish to our fall tournament schedule.”
Against Alabama’s Alexey Nesterov, Allwardt only allowed the freshman one game in the opening set. However on home courts, the Crimson Tide player stormed his way back into the competition to force a third set, 6-4. Again, Allwardt flipped the switch, walking away with the victory as the junior limited his opponent to just one game in the final set.
A native of Helsinki, Finland, Virtanen fought hard throughout the first set against Mississippi State’s Trevor Foshey to take the advantage, 7-5. Foshey, who fell to Allwardt in Saturday’s singles play, was no match for the freshman as the Commodore rolled to victory, 7-5, 6-1.
Vandy will be back in action after the new year, when the Commodores open up the dual-match season at home against Northwestern on Jan. 15.
Results:
Tate Allwardt (VU) def. Alexey Nesterov (Bama); 6-1, 4-6, 6-1
Panu Virtanen (VU) def. Trevor Foshey (MSU; 7-5, 6-1
