NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Vanderbilt men’s tennis team lost a hard fought match against the No. 69 South Carolina Gamecocks 4-2. With the loss at the Currey Tennis Center, the No. 56 Commodores own an 8-7 overall record.
The Commodores started off the match strong by winning the doubles point. Baker Newman and Tate Allwardt started the match off by putting on a dominate performance over Thomas Mayronne/Yancy Dennis; 6-1.
Rhys Johnson/Cameron Klinger clinched the doubles point by upsetting No. 51 Fennell/O’Keefe 6-3. The ranked win was the tandems first, after nearly defeating UNC’s 4th-ranked team last weekend.
However, the Gamecocks bounced back with a solid singles performance on court one, as Gabriel Friedrich upset No. 54 Daniel Valent 6-4, 6-3 to level the score.
Newman lost a hard fought match on court four. The sophomore dropped the first set 6-3, before ultimately losing the second set in a 7-6(3) tiebreaker to Mayronne.
With the Gamecocks up 2-1, Kris Yee tied up the match for VU by defeating Dennis 6-4, 7-5 on court five.
Cameron Klinger dominated the first set against Andrew Schafer 6-2 before dropping the second set 6-4. The freshman was down 5-0, but scratched his way back into the match before falling, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.
South Carolina clinched the match in a back and forth matchup between Rhys Johnson and Harrison O’ Keefe. Johnson won the first set in a tie-breaker 7-6(4), but then fell in the last two sets 6-3, 7-5.
The two teams decided not to finish the sixth match between Penn Binet and Sam Swank. Binet was trailing in the first set 0-5.
The Commodores are back in action at home for a double header this Sunday starting against the 16th ranked Georgia Bulldogs at noon and then the Ball State Cardinals at 4:00p.m.
