Dores Split Friday Doubleheader

Men’s tennis falls to LSU, Tops Alabama A&M

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Vanderbilt men’s tennis hosted a pair of matches Friday at the Currey Tennis Center and split its doubleheader with a 4-3 loss against Southeastern Conference opponent LSU, before a clean 7-0 sweep of Alabama A&M.

“It was disappointing,” said head coach Ian Duvenhage. “I mean, we won the doubles point and then we won four first sets in singles to put ourselves in a position to win the match and we couldn’t close them (LSU) out.”

The No. 29 Commodores now stand 11-4 on the season and 1-3 in SEC play heading into Sunday’s doubleheader, which is the last one this season.

“We not only have to get tougher, but when we need have teams down, we have to finish them off,” said Duvenhage. “We will get another chance to do it right on Sunday.”

Against the Tigers

  • Vandy sits at 1-3 in conference play after falling in a nailbiter to SEC West foe LSU, 4-3.
  • The Dores clinched the doubles point with wins on Courts 1 and 3 Friday afternoon.
  • On Court 2, fifth-year senior duo George Harwell and Max Freeman fell to LSU’s Gabriel Diaz Freire and Kent Hunter, 6-3.
  • Junior Siim Troost and freshman Michael Ross, ranked 76th nationally, fought-hard to win the top court, 7-5, against Ronald Hohmann and Vlad Lobak of LSU.
  • Coming down to Court 3, senior Macsen Sisam and sophomore Jeremie Casabon returned to the doubles lineup after clinching their second doubles point this season in a 6-4 victory against their LSU opponent.
  • The Tigers got off to a fast start in singles play, capturing victories on Courts 1 and 3, which included No. 50 Ronald Hohmann of LSU upsetting Harwell, who’s ranked 39th nationally, in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3.
  • Junior Joubert Klopper added the first singles point on the board for the Dores, after a pair of 6-4 set wins, on Court 2. At this point, Vandy and LSU were tied at 2-2.
  • At No. 6 singles, Troost gave Vandy the 3-2 lead after a three-set thriller against his Tigers opponent, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.
  • LSU tied it up 3-3 after a victory on Court 4 where Diaz Freire of the Tigers defeated Freeman, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2.
  • Coming down to Court 5, LSU clinched the match to go 10-5 on the season and 2-3 in SEC play. After winning the first match in a tightly contested tiebreaker, 7-6 (7), Casabon fell in a second-set tiebreaker, 7-6 (4), to force a decisive third set, which was eventually won by LSU’s Joao Graca, 6-3.

Against the Bulldogs

  • Vanderbilt extended its dual record to 11-4 behind a dominant clean sweep victory in a 7-0 win over Alabama A&M Friday evening.
  • The team of Troost and Ross went an undefeated 2-0 on the day after an easy 6-1 win over their Bulldogs opponents on the top court.
  • Ferreira and Klopper defeated their Alabama A&M opponents 6-1 to clinch the doubles point on Court 3.
  • Harwell and Freeman led 4-2 on Court 2 when their match was ruled unfinished.
  • Klopper went an undefeated 2-0 in singles play for the day to capture the first singles point for the Dores. On Court 2, the junior dominated the first set without dropping a single point, 6-0, before winning the second set, 6-1, over his Bulldogs opponent.
  • Harwell finished shortly after with a commanding 6-2, 6-0 victory over Alabama A&M’s Vence Ntcha.
  • Returning to singles for the first time since Feb. 18, Ross clinched his first match of his career in straight sets, 6-3, 6-0, against his Bulldogs opponent.
  • Playing out the remaining courts, Ferreira fought-hard in a three-set victory against Alabama A&M’s Natiphat Mulada. The senior dominated the first set without dropping a single point, 6-0, before dropping the second set, 6-3. For the third set, Ferreira came back strong to win the 10-point tiebreaker, 10-4.
  • Moving up to Court 4, Troost had a slow start but won the elusive 7-6 (5) tiebreaker before taking a commanding, 6-0 victory in the second set against his Alabama A&M opponent.
  • Improving to 5-1 for the 2022 dual season, Sisam continues his singles winning streak after a three-set thriller victory on Court 5, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, against his Bulldogs opponent to complete the Dores’ sweep.

On Deck

Vandy rounds out the weekend with a noon match Sunday against SEC West foe Auburn before completing a home-and-home series against Tennessee State at 4 p.m., which was originally scheduled for Feb. 20.


Dores Fall Short to Tigers by Vanderbilt Athletics on on Exposure