Nov. 13, 2008
Lipman
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Vanderbilt men’s tennis coach Ian Duvenhage announced the signings of Ryan Lipman and Sam Wells to National Letters of Intent on Wednesday. Lipman and Wells will join the Commodores in the fall of 2009.
A local Nashville product, Lipman is ranked No. 5 in the nation in the class of 2009 by Tennisrecruiting.net. Lipman is also ranked No. 9 in the most recent USTA Boys’ 18 Singles rankings released Nov. 5.
“Ryan Lipman has proven himself as one of the top junior players in the world,” Duvenhage said. “We are extremely excited to have him join our team, especially since he is a native Nashvillian.”
Lipman holds a 74-12 overall record and was ranked as high as No. 3 in the country earlier this year. Lipman’s most recent tournament title came at the Atlanta ITF on Sept. 27.
Lipman, who is home-schooled, chose Vanderbilt over Georgia, Georgia Tech, Tennessee and Virginia.
A native of Boca Raton, Fla., Wells is currently ranked No. 95 by Tennisrecruiting.net after having been ranked as high as No. 49 in 2008. Wells is also ranked No. 147 in the most recent USTA Boys’ 18 Singles rankings.
“Sam Wells is a talented, big hitting Floridian with a huge upside and we expect great things from him in the future,” Duvenhage said.
The 6-foot-4 Wells owns a 30-23 record. Last summer, Wells defeated current Commodore Charlie Jones, 6-0, 6-2, at the National Clay Court Championships.
Wells, who is enrolled through the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Independent Study High School, also considered Wake Forest and Northwestern.
Vanderbilt will open its spring season Jan. 31 at the National Indoors in Boise, Idaho.
