TULSA, Okla. – Vanderbilt’s 34th-ranked men’s tennis team had its record slip below the .500 mark this spring with a 5-2 loss at No. 20 Tulsa on Sunday. The loss moved the Commodores to 4-5, while Tulsa improved to 11-5.
The loss was Vanderbilt’s third in a row and its first of the season decided by more than one point. The match was the team’s second in as many days at Tulsa’s Michael D. Case Tennis Center. The Commodores began their five-match road trip with a 4-3 loss to No. 17 Oklahoma State on Saturday.
After winning the doubles point in six of its previous eight matches, Vanderbilt found itself in an unfamiliar hole early after Tulsa won two of the three doubles matches to win the point.
The only Vanderbilt duo to earn a win in doubles play was Nick Cromydas and Bryant Salecedo, who won their sixth match in a row with an 8-3 win over Tulsa’s Alberto Sottocorno and Ashley Watling in the No. 2 position.
Vanderbilt’s points came courtesy of Adam Baker and Cromydas in singles play. Baker got on the board first for the Commodores when he defeated Tulsa’s Ross Cunningham, 6-2, 6-3, in the No. 4 position. The win halted a two-match losing streak for Baker.
Cromydas earned Vanderbilt’s second and final point of the match when he defeated Tulsa’s Alberto Sottocorno, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), 1-0 (10-4). The win ended a three-match losing streak for Cromydas.
The two matches in Tulsa gave Vanderbilt sophomore Bryant Salcedo a challenge he will not see the rest of this season and likely the rest of his college career. Salcedo faced the nation’s top-two ranked players in consecutive matches. After losing to No. 2 Olksandr Nedovyesov, 6-0, 6-1, Saturday, he lost to No. 1 Arnau Brugues, 6-1, 6-1, Sunday.
Vanderbilt will continue its road trip Tuesday when the Commodores face No. 6 Texas in Austin at 2 p.m.
