March 26, 2010
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Vanderbilt’s men’s tennis team will play on the road for the third time in its last four matches when the Commodores play at Auburn at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
Vanderbilt (10-6, 2-3 SEC) is coming off a 5-2 victory over No. 37 Alabama last week, which vaulted the Commodores in the rankings to No. 23. The ranking for Vanderbilt is its highest since the team was ranked No. 22 on March 4, 2008. Auburn is ranked 65th and is 4-9 overall and 1-4 in the SEC. The Tigers will host 72nd-ranked South Florida on Friday.
The Commodores will be looking to snap a four-match losing streak on the road when they play at Auburn. Vanderbilt is 8-1 at home this season, but just 1-4 on the road. However, all four of the road losses have come against top 10 teams.
Sunday’s match will mark the second of two straight weeks when Vanderbilt will play just one match. Vanderbilt will return to playing two matches a week the following two weeks.
Entering its match on Friday, Auburn has lost six of its last seven matches. Its lone SEC victory came at South Carolina (4-3) on March 14.
Auburn is led by Tim Puetz, who is ranked No. 23 and Alexander Stamchev, who is ranked No. 93. Puetz and Stamchev also form the No. 8 ranked doubles duo.
Vanderbilt is 10-0 this season when it wins the doubles point and has swept all three doubles matches nine times. On Wednesday, freshman Ryan Lipman earned his second SEC Freshman of the Week honor following his win over Alabama’s Saketh Myneni, which moved Lipman to 3-2 on the year in SEC play. It was the second straight victory over a ranked opponent for Lipman.
Vanderbilt’s most consistent player in SEC play has been senior Vijay Paul, who is 4-1 in the No. 3 slot. Junior Alex Zotov leads Vanderbilt with a 22-4 record and is 3-2 in the No. 4 position in SEC matches. Fellow junior Adam Baker has won two straight matches in the No. 5 position.
After Vanderbilt plays at Auburn this weekend, the Commodores will return home to wrap up their home schedule against Florida and South Carolina.
