NASHVILLE, Tenn. – After winning the doubles point in dramatic fashion, the Vanderbilt men’s tennis team went on to win all six singles matches Friday afternoon to defeat LSU, 7-0, at the Currey Tennis Center.
The Commodores got off to a slow start in doubles, as LSU took the match on court one, 8-3. Blake Bazarnik and Charlie Jones tied things up with an 8-6 win in the No. 3 match.
On court two, LSU looked poised to clinch the doubles point, as Roger Anderson and Stefan Szacinski lead Ryan Lipman and Bryant Salcedo, 7-3, but the Commodores did not let up. Vanderbilt won six consecutive games to take an 8-7 lead, before LSU evened things up at 8-8. In the tiebreaker, LSU double-faulted at 6-5 for Lipman and Salcedo to take the match and clinch the doubles point for the Dores.
“I agree that the doubles set the tone of the match,” said head coach Ian Duvenhage. “We were two breaks down at one point, but they found a way to win. It’s all about believing – it doesn’t matter how bad of shape you’re in, you’ve got to believe that somehow you can find a way to pull it out, and that’s what they did.”
The Tigers got out to a fast start in singles, winning the first game on five of six courts, but the Commodores ended up winning the first set on four of the courts.
Adam Baker was the first Vanderbilt player to wrap up his match, winning 6-4, 6-3 on court two. Salcedo followed with a 6-4, 7-5 win in the No. 4 match. ON court one, Lipman cruised to a 6-2 win in the first set, before dropping the second set 2-6. He topped Olivier Borsos 6-4 in the third set to take the match and clinch the victory for the Commodores.
Just seconds after Lipman clinched the match, Bazarnik added an insurance victory with a three-set win on court five. Also playing a three-set match, Alex Zotov increased Vanderbilt’s lead to 6-0 with a win on court six.
Jones concluded the sweep of the Tigers after his opponent defaulted before the third set. After dropping the first set, 7-6(7), Jones forced a tiebreaker set with a 7-5 win in the second set, but Stefan Szacinski decided not to play the third set.
“Overall our performance makes me a happy man,” said Duvenhage. “It’s exactly what great teams do. It was hard-nosed, disciplined and tough. I think it was terrific and I couldn’t have asked for more from our team.”
The Commodores return to the courts on Sunday, hosting Arkansas at noon. Live stats for the match will be available .
