NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Vanderbilt men’s tennis wrapped up non-conference home play with a doubleheader against Big 12 foe, Oklahoma State, and fellow Music City opponent, Belmont. The Commodores split the matches, falling 4-3 in the final tiebreak to the Cowboys, but coming out on top of the Bruins, 6-1.
“That was two really good matches today,” head coach Ian Duvenhage said. “It’s a shame we lost to Oklahoma State—coming off of beating No. 21 MTSU in Murfreesboro, they will likely be ranked Top 25 next time. We had them on the ropes. We were up a set at the break. Just couldn’t close them out. That’s been our problem: We’re getting ahead, but we’re not putting people away. Hopefully we can solve that and go from there.”
Clash Against the Cowboys
The Dores took advantage of the match early with Nathan Cox and Michael Ross taking Court 2, and Joubert Klopper and Macsen Sisam winning the tiebreak to secure their fifth-straight doubles win and the doubles point for Vandy.
In singles play, Cox and Sisam picked up two more points for Vanderbilt, each winning two straight sets on their respective courts. However, with the Cowboys grabbing three points of their own, the match ultimately came down to Court 4 where Siim Troost forced the tiebreak of the third set, but fell 8-6.
Vanderbilt fell to OSU, 4-3.
Singles
Tyler Zink (OSU) def. Klopper 3-5, 6-4, 6-2
Cox (Vandy) def. Chase Ferguson 6-3, 6-1
Isaac Becroft (OSU) def. Ross 6-3, 1-6, 6-4
Alex Garcia (OSU) def. Troost 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (8-6)
Sisam (Vandy) def. Francisco Pini 6-2, 6-3
Alessio Basile (OSU) def. Mitchell Deames 6-4, 6-2
Doubles
Becroft/Zink (OSU) def. Troost/Paul Wang 6-3
Cox/Ross (Vandy) def. Garcia/Ferguson 6-2
Klopper/Sisam (Vandy) def. Basile/Pini 7-6 (7-3)
Battling Bruins
Vandy turned the day around with a 6-1 victory over Belmont. Now 13-0 against the Bruins, the Commodores secured their second doubles point of the day; Klopper and Sisam extended their doubles win streak to six, while Ross and Cox pushed their streak to two.
Vanderbilt carried their momentum into singles play, with four Commodores—Klopper, Ross, Troost and Deames—each winning two straight sets in their respective matches to clinch the Vanderbilt victory.
Singles
Klopper (Vandy) def. Marco Ilic 6-4, 6-4
Cox (Vandy) def. Alfred Wallin 6-4, 1-6, 6-2
Ross (Vandy) def. Tomas Luis 6-1, 6-1
Troost (Vandy) def. Ian Cruz 6-3, 6-3
Riccardo Trione (Belmont) def. Sisam 2-6, 6-3, 6-4
Deames (Vandy) def. Gabriel Sardo 7-5 (7-4), 6-3
Doubles
Troost/Wang (Vandy) vs. Trione/Ilic 5-4, unfinished
Cox/Ross (Vandy) def. Wallin/Jack Randall 6-4
Klopper/Sisam (Vandy) def. Luis/Cruz 6-4
Up Next: The Dores finish up non-conference play at Northwestern on Feb. 26. Opening serve is scheduled for noon.
