NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The No. 19 Vanderbilt Commodores began their season sweeping the Georgia State Panthers 7-0, and the Lipscomb Bison 4-0 at home. The ‘Dores are now own a 2-0 mark on the season. For the third year in a row the Commodores swept their season opener. Since the 2009-2010 season the Commodores have only dropped one point in a season-opener, the point came in 2012 against MTSU.
“There were a lot of positives out there today”, said head coach Ian Duvenhage. “I really liked how Ryan Smith handled himself out there. I also really liked how Suresh [Eswaran] played, and how Jeff [Offerdahl] played. Danny Valent did a good job after losing the first set and not playing very well. He did a great job at turning it around. We kind of patched doubles teams together and we had two teams out there today in the second match that really have not played much together, so they did a great job to win the doubles point for us. Overall, I really like how our guys responded.”
Vanderbilt carried on its tradition of season-opening success Friday as the ‘Dores clinched both doubles points in their double-header matches.
Vandy shuffled around with its lineup and doubles teams, creating new pairings that proved to be advantageous for the Top-20 team. However the Commodores had to work for their wins, with two close 6-4 wins coming from Kris Yee and Jeffrey Offerdahl vs. Georgia State and Gonzales Austin and Daniel Valent against the Bison.
After five minute breaks in between doubles the Commodores stormed the courts for their first singles matches of the year. Suresh Eswaran handled business Friday against both opponents, generating consistent deep returns and demonstrating a sense of control that we have come to expect from the senior. Eswaran finished his singles matches first in both competitions for the ‘Dores, not allowing an opponent to win more then three games.
Other notable performances came from junior lefty Ryan Smith, Jeffrey Offerdahl, and Daniel Valent. Smith battled back from a 4-1 deficit to win his match against the Panthers; 7-5, 6-4. Senior Offerdahl won both of his outings in the No. six and five spots; 6-2, 6-1. Daniel Valent, a freshman from Zurich, Switzerland, put on a great battle for the Commodores. After dropping a 6-2 set to GSU Valent turned his game around to win the match, not allowing the Panther’s Andrei Andrukhou to win more then two games for the rest of the match.
The Commodores are back out on their home courts this sunday as they take on No. 34 Northwestern at 12:00 p.m. and Belmont at 4:30 p.m.
#19 Vanderbilt vs. Georgia State
Jan. 16, 2015
VU win; 7-0
Doubles
1. Gonzales Austin, Daniel Valent (Vanderbilt) vs. Sofiane Chevallier, Zack Kennedy (Georgia State), 5-4, unfinished
2. Ryan Smith, Pen Binet (Vanderbilt) def. Jannis Koeke, Joseph Bishop (Georgia Stats), 6-2
3. Kris Yee, Jeffrey Offerdahl (Vanderbilt) def. Andrei Andrukhou, Sebastian Acuna (Georgia State), 6-4
Order of Finish: 2, 3
Singles
1. #10 Gonzales Austin (Vanderbilt) def. Jannis Koeke (Georgia State); 6-4, 6-3
2. Kris Yee (Vanderbilt) def. Zack Kennedy (Georgia State); 6-1, 6-4
3. Daniel Valent (Vanderbilt) def. Andrei Andrukhou (Georgia State); 2-6, 6-2, 6-0
4. Ryan Smith (Vanderbilt) def. Sebastian Acuna (Georgia State); 7-5, 6-4
5. Suresh Eswaran (Vanderbilt) def. Sofiane Chevallier (Georgia State); 6-1, 6-1
6. Jeffrey Offerdahl (Vanderbilt) def. Joseph Bishop (Georgia State); 6-2, 6-1
Order of Finish: 5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6
#19 Vanderbilt vs. Lipscomb;
Jan. 16, 2015
VU wins; 4-0
Doubles
1. Gonzales Austin, Daniel Valent (Vanderbilt) def. Alex Pavel, Philippe Courteau (Lipscomb); 6-4
2. Ryan Smith, Pen Binet (Vanderbilt) vs. John Tougher, Rob Mitchell (Lipscomb); 2-4 unfinished
3. Suresh Eswaran, Tate Allwardt (Vanderbilt) def. Daniel Hernandez, Alejandro Manzanares (Lipscomb); 6-3
Order of Finish: 3, 1
Singles
1. #10 Gonzales Austin (Vanderbilt) vs. Rob Mitchell (Lipscomb); 4-6, 3-1, unfinished
2. Daniel Valent (Vanderbilt) vs. Alejandro Manzanares (Lipscomb); 6-2, 1-1, unfinished
3. Ryan Smith (Vanderbilt) def. Daniel Hernandez (Lipscomb); 6-2, 6-2
4. Suresh Eswaran (Vanderbilt) def. Alex Pavel (Lipscomb); 6-3, 6-1
5. Jeffrey Offerdahl (Vanderbilt) def. Philippe Courteau (Lipscomb); 6-1, 6-2
6. Tate Allwardt (Vanderbilt) vs. John Tougher (Lipscomb); Not Started
Order of Finish: 4, 3, 5
