NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Vanderbilt men’s tennis travels to Cambridge, Massachusetts, this weekend to take on a pair of Ivy League foes.
The weekend gets underway this Friday at 4 p.m. (CT) with host Harvard, who currently sits at No. 13 in the ITA team rankings, before taking on an undefeated Cornell this Sunday at 8 a.m.
The Commodores enter the weekend with a 6-0 record on the season, highlighted by wins over Virginia Tech and Wisconsin.
Debriefing
Vanderbilt defeated all three Nashville foes this season after last Friday’s doubleheader sweep against Belmont and Tennessee State.
The Commodores started last Friday afternoon with a battle-tested 6-1 win over the visiting Bruins. At the No. 3 doubles spot, Marcus Ferreira and Joubert Klopper were the first duo off the court with a 6-1 victory, before Siim Troost and Michael Ross secured the doubles point on the top court. The Dores went 5-1 in singles play with Klopper ultimately clinching the match with a hard-fought, three-set thriller, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-1, on Court 2.
The Dores followed it up with a 5-0 sweep over the Tigers to improve 6-0 on the year. A clean sweep of the doubles matches put the Dores on the board early. In singles play, Klopper did not drop a game en route to a pair of 6-0 set wins at No. 2 singles to give the Dores the 2-0 lead. Troost clinched the match to secure his second clincher and win of the season.
The Northwestern match previously set for last weekend has been rescheduled for March 9 at Currey Tennis Center, with first serve set for 1 p.m.
The commodores are currently working with Tennessee State to reschedule their second of two matches that was postponed last Sunday.
Scouting the Opponents
- No. 13 Harvard (7-2): The last time both teams met was the 2020 season when the Dores hosted the Crimson and fell in a hard-fought battle, 4-3. Harvard is on a four-match winning streak including a win over Big Ten foe Michigan and claiming the ECAC Indoor Championships title last weekend after taking down three Ivy League rivals (Brown, Princeton and Columbia). Individually, Daniel Milavsky and Brian Shi rank No. 20 in doubles, while three Harvard players are ranked in the latest ITA rankings – No. 20 Henry Schulenberg, No. 25 Harris Walker and No. 30 Shi.
- Cornell (8-2): Cornell started off the dual season with an impressive 8-0 record, highlighted by wins over Penn State and Oklahoma State. The squad is 8-2 heading into this weekend and look to bounce-back after a two-match losing streak following losses against Ivy League foes Columbia and Princeton to finish fourth at the ECAC Indoor Championships last weekend. Cornell senior sits at No. 34 Alafia Ayeni in the latest ITA singles rankings.
ITA Rankings
- Fifth-year senior and No. 1 singles player George Harwell sits at No. 54 in the latest ITA singles rankings.
On the Radar
The Dores return home to open Southeastern Conference play against No. 15 Georgia next Friday before hitting the road to Fayetteville, Arkansas, to face the Razorbacks on March 6.
