Nov. 8, 2015
NASHVILLE, Tenn. —The next time the No. 24 Vanderbilt men’s tennis team takes the court for competition will be well into winter, as the squad capped off their tournament season on Sunday afternoon going 5-4 overall to closeout the Commodore Scramble.
With four opposing teams stacked with talented student-athletes, Vandy got in some great matches over the weekend which all aid in laying groundwork for the `Dores impending dual season.
“I think overall it was a great weekend,” said associate head coach Jamie Hunt. “We got a lot of matches in, which is always the goal. We won a lot and got to play some tough matches. I feel like we’ll look at the things we need to work on and get back at it next week. This kind of concludes our fall tournament season, but we’ll still practice in our two-hour a week format so it was a good end to the fall.”
Like Saturday’s tournament format VU started off the morning with doubles action, suffering just one loss by the Alabama Crimson Tide in a tight tiebreaker. Sophomores Baker Newman and Tate Allwardt fell to Brewer/Edwards; 8-7(4).
The Commodores leveled the day’s record with the Tide as Rhys Johnson and Pen Binet pulled out a close 8-6 victory over Roussow/Hills. Freshmen Vikram Chari and Alex Ross teamed up against MTSU and continued to gain collegiate tennis experience with a 8-4 win over Pugh and Artiz.
The `Dores capped off singles action going 3-3, with Allwardt, Johnson and Yee bringing in the last few wins of the fall.
A native of Boca Rotan, Fla., Allwardt eased through his first set over Lipscomb’s Philippe Courteau; 6-2. Courteau battled back in the second set, but it wasn’t enough as the Dore pulled out a hotly contested 7-6(7) tiebreaker.
Kris Yee and Johnson showed off senior leadership as the two preserved through their own challenging matches to come out victorious. Johnson squared off against MTSU’s Luis Morillo Diaz in two tight sets, but the Aussie held the Blue Raider at bay with a 7-5, 6-4 victory to go undefeated on the day.
After falling in the first set 6-4, Yee battled back in the second to split against Bama’s Hayes Brewer only allowing one solitary game to the Tide.
Both opponents played spirited third sets, with Alabama raising the drama by leveling the score to 6-all and taking it to a tiebreaker. But with his teammates supporting him on the indoor courts of the Currey Tennis Center the Las Vegas native took it to Brewer, only allowing two games in his 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(2) victory to cap off the tournament.
Vanderbilt will begin their spring dual season with matches against Furman and Lipscomb at home on January 16th, 2016.
Results:
Johnson/Binet (Vandy) def. Roussow/Hills (Bama); 8-6
Ross/Chari (Vandy) def. Pugh/Artiz (MTSU); 8-4
Brewer/Edwards (Bama) def. Newman/Allwardt (Vandy); 8-7(4)
Singles:
Dima Zhymantovich (MTSU) def. Baker Newman (Vandy); 7-5, 7-5
Gonzalo Raschiatore (MTSU) def. Alex Ross (Vandy); 6-3, 6-0
Kris Yee (Vandy) def. Hayes Brewer (Bama); 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(2)
Rhys Johnson (Vandy) def. Luis Morillo Diaz (MTSU); 7-5, 6-4
Christian Haushammer (Louisville) def. Vikram Chari (Vandy); 6-0, 6-4
Tate Allwardt (Vandy) def. Philippe Courteau (Lipscomb); 6-2, 7-6(7)
