Oct. 31, 2017
Tournament Overview
Three Vanderbilt men’s tennis players are set to compete in the ITA National Fall Championships this week in Indian Wells, Calif., which includes 64 singles players and 32 doubles pairs. The singles championship draw, which features Vanderbilt’s Daniel Valent, is comprised of 40 athletes who clinched berths through their play in ITA-sanctioned regular season tournaments and 24 at-large/wild card selections. The doubles draw includes 19 automatic bids and 13 at-large/wild card pairs, including Lachlan McPhee and Billy Rowe. For the full list of criteria on qualifying for the ITA National Fall Championships, click HERE.
Singles Preview
Daniel Valent (11-0) is matched up against fourth-seeded Skander Mansouri (2-1) of Wake Forest in the round of 64. The two will square off at 2:45 p.m. (CT) on Wednesday.
Mansouri is a four-time NCAA All-American, having earned the honors in both singles and doubles play each of the past two years. Mansouri was selected as one of the 21 at-large berths for the tournament after advancing to the ITA All-American Championships round of 16 in early October.
Valent earned an automatic bid for the tournament by winning the ITA Ohio Valley Regional last week. During the regional championships, Valent picked up four wins over nationally-ranked opponents, including victories over No. 9 William Bushamuka and No. 17 Timo Stodder, both of whom also qualified for the ITA Fall National Championships. The ITA Ohio Valley Regional was the second tournament that Valent has won this season, the first being the Commodore Scramble back in September, where he defeated teammate Billy Rowe in the championship match.
Doubles Preview
Billy Rowe and Lachlan McPhee (7-2) will team up against Stetson’s Linus Bergevi and Colter DeCoste (6-2) in the first round of play of the doubles draw on Wednesday at 6:15 p.m. (CT).
Bergevis and DeCoste were eligible for an at-large berth in the tournament by advancing to the semifinals of the ITA Southeast Regional. The Hatter duo won four matches in the regional tournament before dropping out due to a minor injury.
Rowe and McPhee, who are ranked 16th nationally for men’s doubles, have advanced to the finals of both tournaments that they have competed in thus far, including the ITA Ohio Valley Championships, which earned the Commodore pair its at-large bid for this week’s tournament. Rowe and McPhee took both sets in the championship match to a tiebreak against Louisville’s Christopher Morin-Kougoucheff and Parker Wynn, before eventually falling by a 7-6 (2), 7-6 (4) margin. It was the first time that Vanderbilt had sent a doubles pair to the ITA Regional Finals since 2014.
