KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Blake Bazarnik got a huge win on his court but the Vanderbilt Commodores dropped their match 5-2 against the No. 16 Tennessee Vols Friday.
The Commodores got off to a strong start against the Vols, earning the doubles point to start the scoring. Alex DiValerio and Gonzales Austin won on court one 8-6 over #8 ranked Mikelis Libietis and Hunter Reese. The Vols tied things up as Jarryd Chaplin and Edward Jones defeated Blake Bazarnik and Jeff Offerdahl 8-5, but Joe Dorn and Charlie Jones clinched the point with an 8-2 win on court three.
Bazarnik win on court three meant coming back after dropping four games in a row to win his first set 7-5 over Brandon Fickey, and then taking the second set with a score of 6-2 to put the Commodores up 2-0.
Tennessee struck back, with Chaplin and Jones taking down both Offerdahl and Anton Kovrigin in straight sets in singles to even the match at 2-2. Kovrigin forced a tiebreak in his second set as he tried to split, but Jones topped him for the point.
At that point, with both Jones and Austin splitting their sets to go to three, the skies opened up and forced a rain delay. With that, the momentum shifted back in the home team’s favor, and Tennessee went on to win the match 4-3.
Jones dropped 6-3, 6-7, 6-3 against #42 Libietis, Austin fell 5-7, 6-1, 6-4 on court two to #92 Reese, and Joe Dorn dropped 6-7, 6-4, 6-4 to Bryan Swartz.
The Commodores travel to Georgia next to take on the No. 3 Bulldogs on Sunday at noon CT.
Results:
Singles:
1. #42 MIkelis Libietis (UT) def. #47 Charlie Jones (VU) 6-3, 6-7, 6-3
2. #92 Hunter Reese (UT) def. Gonzales Austin (VU) 5-7, 6-1, 6-4
3. Blake Bazarnik (VU) def. Brandon Fickey (UT) 7-5, 6-2
4. Jarryd Chaplin (UT) def. Jeff Offerdahl (VU) 7-6, 6-3
5. Edward Jones (UT) def. Anton Kovrigin (VU) 6-2, 7-6
6. Bryan Swartz (UT) def. Joe Dorn (VU) 6-7, 6-4, 6-4
Doubles:
1. #56 Austin/DiValerio (VU) def. #8 Libietis/Reese 8-6
2. Chaplin/Jones (UT) def. Bazarnik/Offerdahl (VU) 8-5
3. Dorn/Jones (VU) def. Swartz/Fickey (UT) 8-2
Match Notes:
#38 Vanderbilt, 7-10 (2-5)
#16 Tenneesse, 12-9 (4-3)
Order of Finish: Doubles (1,2,3) Singles (3,4,5,2,1,6)
