Feb. 8, 2007
HOUSTON, Tex. – The No. 66 Vanderbilt men’s tennis team will battle No. 30 Rice and No. 22 North Carolina this weekend in Houston, Texas.
The Commodores (3-2) will have an opportunity to utilize all nine players on the roster for the first time this season, including junior Ryan Preston and senior Jordan Magarik who were not NCAA eligible for the first five matches.
Vanderbilt opened the season with five home matches, defeating Florida Atlantic, Tennessee Tech and Memphis while dropping contests to No. 53 Virginia Tech and No. 54 Western Michigan.
This weekend will be Vanderbilt’s first chance to challenge teams in the ITA’s Top 30. No. 30 Rice is undefeated and recently overwhelmed No. 32 Minnesota 6-1 in Minneapolis, Minn. The No. 22 Tarheels, also undefeated, will have their first road match of the season against Rice on Friday.
“I’m excited to see our whole team play,” Vanderbilt Head Coach Ian Duvenhage said. “It’s an opportunity to play two teams ranked ahead of us and it will be a challenging weekend.”
The Commodores will play North Carolina on Saturday, followed by Rice Sunday afternoon.
By coincidence only, the Vanderbilt baseball team will join the men’s tennis team in Houston as they open the 2006-07 baseball season at the Houston Astros College Classic, beginning Friday against Rice.