Jan. 14, 2017
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Vanderbilt men’s tennis team opens up its 91st season of collegiate tennis Sunday, hosting back-to-back matches against No. 13 Northwestern at noon followed by Belmont at 4 p.m.
“I feel like in your non-conference schedule you have to play teams that will help you,” said head coach Ian Duvenhage. “Northwestern is ranked No. 13 right now and we’ve lost to them 4-3 two years in a row. We know it’s going to be a really tough match early in the season. It’s both of our first matches, so we’re going to find out in a hurry where we are. I like this team. I think we’re going to be a good team. The question is will we be a good team from the get-go on Sunday or will we develop later on in the season.”
The Commodores, who were picked to finish 11th by conference coaches, return seven student-athletes from last year’s 17-14 (6-6) NCAA tournament team. Pen Binet takes the reigns as team captain and will help lead a squad that could debut two newcomers come Sunday.
In addition to Binet, the ‘Dores look to the experience of first team All-SEC selection Daniel Valent (No. 97) and sophomore All-American Cameron Klinger. Both student-athletes had fruitful fall tournament seasons, only dropping four matches apiece, and look to build off that success throughout the 2017 season.
Oracle/ITA Rankings Update:
A new wrinkle this year sees the national ranking panel voting on the Top 25 teams, while computerized rankings are in effect for singles and doubles. The national team rankings will shift to the computer system following the ITA National Team Indoor Championships in February.
Watching the Wildcats:
Ranked No. 13 in the first installment of the Oracle/ITA rankings, Northwestern travels to the Music City with a top-30 singles player who is amongst six returners from last season’s 26-5 (10-1) squad.
The Wildcats’ lone ranked student-athlete is senior Strong Kirchheimer, who sits at No. 26 in the nation. Kirchheimer went 9-4 in the fall, picking up three wins and four losses against ranked opponents.
Last season, the then-32nd ranked Commodores suffered their second straight 4-3 setback to the No. 20 Wildcats. The ‘Dores’ three points came from doubles wins on courts one and two, followed by two singles victories on courts five and six from Kris Yee and Alex Ross respectively.
Surveying the Bruins:
Belmont begins its season against the Commodores following a 10-11 (5-4) 2015-16 season. The ‘Dores have suffered only one individual loss against Belmont on the year, having competed against the Bruins in ITA regionals and Vandy’s annual Commodore Scramble. In their last dual match meeting, VU swept the Bruins 4-0 for the squad’s seventh win of the 2016 season.
