NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Vanderbilt men’s tennis team opened its first weekend of dual season competition going undefeated. Amassing a 3-0 record, the Dores defeated Middle Tennessee on Friday, and Michigan State (6-1) and Lipscomb (6-1) on Sunday afternoon.
All three matches began similarly, with the Commodores having to dig themselves out of a one-point doubles disadvantage. On Sunday, Vanderbilt mixed doubles pairings between both matches. VU’s Daniel Valent and George Harwell picked up the lone tandems victory on the day in a 6-2 win over the Bison’s Pedro Uribe and Francesco Tacconi. The Dores lost matches on one and two by a score of 6-3.
“I think we made some progress this weekend,” said head coach Ian Duvenhage. “I’m thrilled with the way we responded in singles every day. The doubles point is only 1/7 of the match, which means it isn’t even 15% of the match, but it has a psychological effect. Sometimes when you lose the doubles point it can shake you up, and the guys turned around and very calmly went back to work in singles. We got big leads early on most courts and that changes momentum. But we could make life a lot easier for ourselves if we win the doubles point.”
In singles versus the Spartans, VU earned four straight-set victories. Baker Newman and Billy Rowe picked up competitive three-set wins on courts three and four, respectively. Rowe clinched the Vandy victory for the black and gold, with the remainder of singles matches were played to their entirety.
Versus Lipscomb, again, the Dores swept the singles competition. Vanderbilt walked away from Sunday night’s match against the Bison with straight-set victories on courts one through five. Panu Virtanen made his dual match debut in his sophomore season, opening the year with a swift 6-1, 6-1 win on court five over Tacconi.
Cameron Klinger faced Victor Chaw in the most spirited match of the day. The junior All-American put away the match in the second set to earn a 7-5, 7-5 victory over Chaw. Harwell capped the double-header earning an 8-2 pro set victory against John Carlin.
“George (Harwell) has been a rock for us, and Max (Freeman) had two wins today as well. I have no doubt those wins will help their confidence as freshmen as we head to kickoff weekend. Panu (Virtanen) got a great win too. I’ve been talking to him about the kinds of things I want to see from him on court, because he wants to play and be in the starting lineup. Today he certainly showed a lot of the things we have talked about. I feel really good about our singles, although it’s going to get a lot tougher.”
The Commodores will hit the road for the first time this upcoming weekend, as the squad competes in the ITA Kickoff Weekend. VU will travel to Winston-Salem, N.C., and will face the University of Portland on Friday at 2 p.m. CT.
For updates and a behind the scenes look at the men’s tennis program, follow VandyMensTennis on Twitter.
Vanderbilt 6, Michigan State 1
Doubles:
1) Jasper Koenen/Brett Forman (MSU) def. Cam Klinger/Billy Rowe (VU); 6-4
2) Josh Mukherjee/Michael Dube (MSU) def. George Harwell/Lachlan McPhee (VU); 6-3
3) Baker Newman/Daniel Valent (VU) led Billy Shisler/John Carlin (MSU); 5-4
Order of finish; 2. 1*
Singles:
1) Daniel Valent (VU) def. Brett Forman (MSU); 6-2, 6-2
2) Cameron Klinger (VU) def. Michael Dube (MSU); 6-2, 6-3
3) Baker Newman (VU) def. Davis Wong (MSU); 6-2, 6-7, 4-3, WR
4) Billy Rowe (VU) def. Josh Mukherjee (MSU); 6-4, 4-6, 6-2
5) Maxwell Freeman (VU) def. Jasper Koenen (MSU); 6-1, 6-1
6) George Harwell (VU) def. John Carlin (MSU); 6-4, 6-3
Order of finish: 5, 2, 1, 4*, 3, 6
Vanderbilt 6, Lipscomb 1
Doubles:
1) Alejandro Manzanares/Victor Chaw (LU) def. Cameron Klinger/Billy Rowe (VU); 6-3
2) Jorge Ortegon/Daniel Cardenas (LU) def. Lachlan McPhee/Baker Newman (VU); 6-3
3) Daniel Valent/George Harwell (VU) def. Francesco Tacconi/Pedro Uribe (LU); 6-2
Order of finish: 3, 2, 1*
Singles:
1) No. 50 Daniel Valent (VU) def. Alejandro Manzanares (LU); 6-1, 6-4
2) Cameron Klinger (VU) def. Victor Chaw (LU); 7-5, 7-5
3) Billy Rowe (VU) def. Jorge Ortegon (LU); 6-2, 6-4
4) Max Freeman (VU) def. Daniel Cardenas (LU); 6-3, 7-5
5) Panu Virtanen (VU) def. Francesco Tacconi (LU); 6-1, 6-1
6) George Harwell (VU) def. Pedro Uribe (LU); 8-2
Order of finish:
5, 3, 1, 4*, 2, 6
