NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Vanderbilt improved to 8-2 on the season after it topped Rice University, 6-1, on Sunday at the Currey Tennis Center.
Kicking off the match with doubles, the Dores earned an early start with a win on court 3 by Commodore pair George Harwell and Christiaan Worst. The duo shut out Rice’s Oscislawski/Rutledge, 6-0.
Clinching the doubles point for the Commodores, sophomore Adam Sraberg and freshman Christiaan Worst battled against Rice pair Warren/Eskeland and earned the win in a set tie-breaker, 7-6 (5). The victory put the Dores in the lead, 1-0 heading into singles.
After the completion of all first sets, the Commodores led on four out of the five courts with junior Panu Virtanen earning the first win by taking down Adam Oscislawski in a straight set, 6-2, 6-2.
With the Dores in the lead, 2-0, freshman Macsen Sisam extended his dual-match winning streak to six victories by defeating Rice’s Eric Rutledge in a straight set, 6-2, 6-3 to advance the Commodores’ lead to 3-0.
Junior Billy Rowe secured the clinch for Vanderbilt on court 4 against Rice’s Conrad Russell. In the first set, Rowe held Russell to just one point and earned a 6-1 win in the first set. That was followed by a close fight in the second set with Rowe clinching the win, 7-5.
Coaches decided to continue play with Harwell, Cameron Klinger and Marcus Ferreira remaining on their respective courts.
Falling short to Rice’s Jacob Eskeland, Harwell dropped the first set, 6-4, followed by a 6-2 defeat in the second set that cut the Dores’ lead to Vanderbilt 4, Rice 1.
Both Klinger and Ferreria closed out the match with wins on their respective courts to finalize the score: Vanderbilt 6, Rice, 1.
The Commodores look to extend their winning streak on Friday as they host North Florida and Lipscomb in a doubleheader at noon and 4 p.m. CT, respectively.
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