NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vanderbilt men’s tennis picked up their second straight victory by defeating Rice on Sunday afternoon. The Commodores won two of three doubles matches, picking up the doubles point to take a 1-0 advantage into singles play. From there, five of six singles matches saw Vandy victorious, giving the Commodores a 6-1 victory over the Owls.
“With the exception of a couple of matches, we didn’t play very well today. But we competed well, and that is very important for us to remember for the rest of the season,” head coach Ian Duvenhage said. “It is more important how we compete than how well we play.”
Dores Win Doubles
Commodores Michael Ross and Nathan Cox won the first doubles match of the afternoon with the 6-4 victory on Court 2. The Owls grabbed a doubles match of their own, however, with Siim Troost and Paul Wang falling 4-6 on Court 1. The doubles point came down to Court 3, where Joubert Klopper and Macsen Sisam topped Rice 7-5.
Vanderbilt claimed the doubles point.
1. Trinity Grear/Wes Barnett (RICE) def. Siim Troost/Paul Wang (VANDY-M) 6-4
2. Michael Ross/Nathan Cox (VANDY-M) def. Campbell Salmon/Santiago Navarro (RICE) 6-4
3. Macsen Sisam/Joubert Klopper (VANDY-M) def. Eduardo Morais/Kabeer Kapasi (RICE) 7-5
Sweet Singles
The Dores’ energy never wavered. Sisam carried his momentum from doubles to singles play, winning straight sets (6-3, 6-4) on Court 5. Troost also picked up a singles point, claiming two straight tiebreak victories (7-6, 7-6). After dropping their first sets, Klopper and Ross both won their second to force a third, where both Commodores came out victorious on their respective courts. Marcus Ferreira won an eight-game pro set to clinch another point for the Dores.
1. Joubert Klopper (VANDY-M) def. Trinity Grear (RICE) 2-6, 6-4, 6-3
2. Emir Sendogan (RICE) def. Nathan Cox (VANDY-M) 6-0, 4-6, 6-4
3. Michael Ross (VANDY-M) def. Wes Barnett (RICE) 4-6, 6-4, 6-2
4. Siim Troost (VANDY-M) def. Santiago Navarro (RICE) 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-3)
5. Macsen Sisam (VANDY-M) def. Campbell Salmon (RICE) 6-3, 6-4
6. Marcus Ferreira (VANDY-M) def. Kabeer Kapasi (RICE) 8-3
Up Next: A big weekend of matches awaits as Vandy hosts Florida Atlantic at noon on Feb. 18 and Oklahoma State (11 a.m.) and Belmont (3:30 p.m.) on Feb 19.
