March 27, 2008
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – On the heels of a dramatic 4-3 victory over No. 24 Alabama last Sunday, Vanderbilt’s No. 35 men’s tennis team will look to continue its momentum this weekend when No. 7 Ole Miss and No. 38 Mississippi State come to town for a pair of matches.
Vanderbilt (10-5, 2-4 Southeastern Conference) will host Ole Miss (13-4, 4-2 SEC) at 2 p.m. on Friday and Mississippi State (8-6, 2-4 SEC) at 1 p.m. on Sunday. Both matches will be held at the Currey Tennis Center and have free admission.
Due to how the Commodores’ schedule sets up, Sunday’s match will be their final match of the season at home. Vanderbilt will close the regular season with matches at Georgia, Tennessee and Kentucky.
Individually, junior Nick Cromydas has led the Commodores with his play on the court lately. Cromydas started the spring with a 2-7 record, but has since won four of his last five matches, including his last three. With a 4-2 record in the SEC, Cromydas is the only player with a winning record in league play.
Also surging as of late has been freshman Alex Zotov. The Minsk, Belarus, native has won his last two matches and four of his last five. Zotov leads the team with 20 wins this season.
Ole Miss has won five of its last six matches with its only loss being a 5-2 decision against Florida last week. The Rebels have SEC wins against Tennessee (4-3), Auburn (4-1), Alabama (6-1) and South Carolina (4-0).
Ole Miss has four players ranked in singles: No. 13 Erling Tveit, No. 16 Matthias Wellermann, No. 32 Robbye Poole, No. 105 Bram tenBerge. In doubles play, the Rebels’ tandem of Tveit and Jonas Berg is ranked No. 6 and the duo of tenBerge and Wellermann is ranked No. 15.
Mississippi State will play at Kentucky on Friday before traveling to Music City. The Bulldogs are coming off a 5-2 loss at Florida, but had won their previous four matches. Their wins in the SEC have come at home against South Carolina (4-2) and Auburn (4-3).
Individually, Mississippi State are led by No. 37 Ivan Bjelica and No. 50 Philippe Frayssinoux. Last season, the Bulldogs upended Vanderbilt 4-0 and 5-2.