NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The No. 17 Vanderbilt Commodores defeated the Kentucky Wildcats Saturday afternoon with a score of 4-3. Freshman Baker Newman clinched the Commodore victory, coming out on top of a third set tiebreaker. With the win VU improves to 15-5 overall and 5-3 in SEC play.
“I’m really proud of our guys,” said head coach Ian Duvenhage, “to find a way to win that says a lot. In particular, Baker (Newman) was down 6-2, and 4-2, and found a way to win his second set. And then he was up 5-2, and his opponent came back to take him to a tiebreaker. You know this is the third match he has clinched for us… Florida, Tennessee and Kentucky. I’m proud of all of them; they all did a great job. But we have to figure out doubles, and we obviously had six match points at No. 2 doubles and I’m less upset about that than the fact that we just have not been competitive at No. 3 doubles. So we have to figure that out. But it’s a great win for us, and we’ve got four SEC matches left so this is definitely something we can build on.”
With the match on his shoulders freshman Baker Newman came up huge for the `Dores, clinching the victory for the black and gold for the third time this year. The Miami native battled and persevered through his entire competition on court five as his opponent, UK’s Kevin Lai, was taken to a third set tiebreaker to determine the match’s victor.
After losing his first set 6-2, Newman battled back from a 4-1 deficit to win his second set 7-6(2). The young Commodore’s resilience and patience would be tested in the final set on court five. Newman was serving for the win at 5-2, but Lai would not go down easily as the Wildcat junior won four games in a row to take the 6-5 advantage. Newman broke serve to give Vanderbilt an opportunity in a third set tiebreaker. With the tiebreak at 5-3 Newman broke Lai for the Commodore victory, sealing the `Dores’ 5th conference win of the year.
Leading up to the showdown on court five, the Commodores fell in doubles action with losses on courts two and three. No. 1 Gonzales Austin and Rhys Johnson defeated No. 58 Lai/Pennington, 4-6, for the duo’s 25th win of the year.
In singles, Rhys Johnson got off court two with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Jerry Lopez for his first SEC win of the year. Daniel Valent earned his third ranked win of the year, taking down No. 125 William Bushamuka in an emotionally charged 6-4, 7-5 victory. Suresh Eswaran fell on court six in three sets, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 against Nils Ellefsen to tie the match at 2-all.
On court one, No. 10 Austin defeated No. 92 Beck Pennington 6-4, 5-7, 6-4. The victory gave the VU the 3-2 advantage, which would be threatened by UK once more as Kris Yee fell 7-6(4), 2-6, 6-2 on court four.
Vanderbilt hits the road next weekend to continue conference action. The `Dore first face the UGA Bulldogs Friday at 5:00 p.m. and the South Carolina Gamecocks on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.
Results:
No. 17 Vanderbilt 4, Kentucky 3
Doubles:
1) No. 1 Gonzales Austin/Rhys Johnson (VU) def. No. 58 Kevin Lai/Beck Pennington (UK); 6-4
2) Jerry Lopez/Nils Ellefsen (UK) def. Pen Binet/Baker Newman (VU); 7-6(5)
3) Trey Yates/Will Bushamuka (UK) def. Suresh Eswaran/Ryan Smith (VU); 6-3
Order of Finish; 1, 3, 2*
Singles:
1) No. 10 Gonzales Austin (VU) def. No. 92 Beck Pennington (UK);6-4, 5-7, 6-4
2) Rhys Johnson (VU) def. Jerry Lopez (UK); 6-2, 6-4
3) Daniel Valent (VU) def. No. 125 William Bushamuka (UK); 6-4, 7-5
4) Trey Yates (UK) def. Kris Yee (VU); 7-6(4), 2-6, 6-2
5) Baker Newman (VU) def. Kevin Lai (UK); 2-6, 7-6(2), 7-6(3)
6) Nils Ellefsen (UK) def. Suresh Eswaran (VU); 4-6, 6-4, 6-3
Order of Finish; 2, 3, 6, 1, 4, 5*
