No. 3 Vanderbilt Sweeps Tennessee Tech, 7-0

No. 3 Vanderbilt Sweeps Tennessee Tech, 7-0

1/23/2004

No. 3 Vanderbilt Sweeps Tennessee Tech, 7-0
VU men’s tennis wins season opener convincingly.

NASHVILLE — The third-ranked Vanderbilt men’s tennis team swept Tennessee Tech, 7-0, today at the Brownlee O. Currey Jr. Tennis Center. The Commodores gave up only two sets all day on their way to the season-opening victory.

Vanderbilt got an early jump on the Golden Eagles in doubles. The duo of junior Matt Lockin and freshman Nathan Sachs scored the first blow with an 8-5 victory over Christoph Lerch and Dominik Hecht at No. 2 doubles. VU clinched the doubles point with a win at No. 1, where senior Chad Harris and junior Scott Brown defeated Marco Born and Luis Aguerrevere, 8-4. With the team point already well in hand, senior Lewis Smith and sophomore Greg Sossaman finished off the sweep by earning an 8-5 win over Michele Panzeri and Razvan Ilie at No. 3 doubles. In singles, the Commodores got their first point from Sachs. Playing for the first time at the Currey Tennis Center, Sachs defeated Panzeri in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1. Next off the court was No. 46 Brown, who defeated Ilie, 6-4, 6-3. The match was decided minutes later when No. 27 Lockin, playing second for Vanderbilt, finished off Aguerrevere by a tally of 6-3, 6-3. The remaining three Dores pushed on for the shutout. Senior Lewis Smith fought through a tough three-set match to defeat Hecht, 6-1, 4-6, 6-2. Sossaman then put away Panzeri, 6-1, 6-3.  Harris, the No. 55 player in the nation, had the longest match of the evening. Playing against the Golden Eagle with the longest reach, the six-foot-nine Born, Harris won a first-set tiebreaker, 12-10. Born and his monster serve rallied in the second-set tiebreaker (7-3), evening the match at a set a piece. The match’s first break of serve came in the second game of the third set. Harris took a 2-0 lead and never looked back, taking the decisive set, 6-1, and completing the Commodore sweep. The Commodores (1-0) are back in action on Sunday when they play host to No. 52 Louisville at the Currey Tennis Center. That match, which will follow a contest between the 12th-ranked Vanderbilt women and fourth-ranked Duke, is scheduled to begin at approximately 2 p.m. CT. Agate:
No. 3 Vanderbilt def. Tennessee Tech, 7-0
Doubles 
1. Harris/Brown (VU) def. Born/Aguerrevere (TTU), 8-4
2. Lockin/Sachs (VU) def. Lerch/Hecht (TTU), 8-5
3. Smith/Sossaman (VU) def. Panzeri/Ilie (TTU), 8-5
Order of finish: 2, 1*, 3 
Singles
1. No. 55 Chad Harris (VU) def. Marco Born (TTU), 7-6 (10), 6-7 (3), 6-1
2. No. 27 Matt Lockin (VU) def. Luis Aguerrevere (TTU), 6-3, 6-3
3. No. 46 Scott Brown (VU) def. Razvan Ilie (TTU), 6-4, 6-3
4. Lewis Smith (VU) def. Dominik Hecht (TTU), 6-1, 4-6, 6-2
5. Nathan Sachs (VU) def. Chris Lerch (TTU), 6-2, 6-1
6. Greg Sossaman (VU) def. Michele Panzeri (TTU), 6-1, 6-3
Order of finish: 5, 3, 2*, 4, 6, 1