April 2, 2009
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Vanderbilt’s men’s tennis team will make its final regular season road trip this weekend when the Commodores travel to Mississippi for matches at Mississippi State on Friday and Ole Miss on Sunday.
Ranked No. 53, Vanderbilt (4-12, 0-6 SEC) will look to end its 10-match losing streak against either No. 60 Mississippi State (5-10, 1-5 SEC) or No. 2 Ole Miss (15-2, 6-0 SEC). The Bulldogs have lost six consecutive matches, while the Rebels have won nine straight.
Vanderbilt will play at Mississippi State at 2 p.m. Friday and at Ole Miss at 1 p.m. Sunday. The Commodores defeated the Bulldogs 4-3 last year in Nashville and were defeated by Ole Miss 6-1 during the regular season in Nashville and 4-1 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in Oxford, Miss.
After this weekend’s road trip, the Commodores will have just three regular season matches remaining against Georgia, Tennessee and Kentucky before the SEC Tournament is played April 23-26 in Auburn, Ala.
Mississippi State is 15-2 all-time at home against Vanderbilt. Last year, the Commodores rallied to defeat the Bulldogs as current senior Nick Cromydas clinched the match with a, 6-7(6), 6-3, 7-5, win over Philippe Frayssinoux in the No. 2 position. Individually, Ryan Farlow is ranked No. 88 and Artem Ilyushin is ranked No. 89 in singles.
The Commodores will play Mississippi on Senior Day. The Rebels have recently been a very difficult team to beat at home with a 66-3 record since 2003. The Rebels are led by No. 23 Jonas Berg, No. 29 Devin Britton, No. 37 Kalle Norberg and No. 122 Bram ten Berge. In doubles play, Berg and ten Berge form the No. 2-ranked tandem.
Vanderbilt’s duo of Alex Zotov and Adam Baker is ranked No. 46.
