NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Vanderbilt men’s tennis team split its final doubleheader of the season, falling 4-3 to Auburn and defeating the Illinois State Redbirds, 4-0.
Saturday’s match began with hugs and high-fives as the Commodores welcomed Bobby Reynolds and Ryan Lipman back to campus, two Vanderbilt alums, turned first-year Auburn coaches.
“Those two guys are two of Vanderbilt’s favorite sons, and we’re proud of them,” said head coach Ian Duvenhage. “They’re great people and great coaches, but it doesn’t make it any easier to lose against them. They did a good job coaching today, and I’m proud of them.”
In doubles, VU looked to have secured the 1-0 lead over Auburn as Pen Binet and Panu Virtanen earned a 6-2 victory on court two over Edward Nguyen and Brandon Laubser. Lachlan McPhee and Billy Rowe held a 5-2 lead over No. 9 Conner Huertas and Max Hinnisdaels on court one, however momentum shifted as the Tigers nabbed a 6-2 win of their own on court three then took five games in a row to complete the comeback win on court one.
Vandy quickly rallied to generate a 2-1 lead as Baker Newman earned a 6-1, 6-4 win over Carles Sarrio on court two. Billy Rowe followed the junior with a 6-3, 6-1 victory against Nguyen on court four. Daniel Valent extended the Commodore lead once more, earning a straight-set ranked win over No. 64 Hinnisdaels, 7-5, 6-3.
Auburn won out on the reminder of the competing courts to steal the victory.
Lachlan McPhee nearly took his opening set on court three against Huertas, 7-5, with the Tiger coming through in the second set for the win, 6-3. Alex Ross and Panu Virtanen fell in three-set matches on courts six then five for the match.
“We’re not blaming our loss on our No. 1 doubles team or Alex on court six for this loss,” Duvenhage said, “but when we’re up a break late in matches we’ve got to convert and clinch those points. We’ve got to be more disciplined in each decision we make. Most tennis players have an Achilles heel; even the great players on tour have an area of weakness where opponents try to capitalize. We’re no different. Each guy in our locker room has an issue in his game, but it’s about shoring up those weaknesses making sure you don’t lose a match because of that one thing in your repertoire.”
At 4 pm the Dores continued action against the Redbirds, beginning the competition with a dominant doubles point.
Newman and Valent were first off the courts in tandems, not giving up a single game in the duo’s victory over Andreas Boers and Egehan Sertkaya. The Dores’ McPhee and Rowe locked down the one-point advantage over ISU with a 6-1 win versus Urh Domiter and Matias Chomali.
With the advantage on the Commodores’ side, VU swept first sets and earned three straight-set victories on courts six, four and five for the win.
Tate Allwardt earned his first dual match victory of the season to give the black and gold the 2-0 lead. The junior downed Peter Foersom, 6-3, 6-1, at the number six position. Virtanen also only gave up four games against Chomali in his 6-2, 6-2 win on court four.
Sophomore Alex Ross clinched the Vanderbilt victory, edging Sertkaya out of the first set, 6-4, and sealing the win in the second set, 6-3.
The Dores hit the road next week to continue SEC play, facing South Carolina and Florida.
