Jan. 25, 2008
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The No. 33 Vanderbilt men’s tennis team opens its 2008 spring campaign on Sunday at 11 a.m. when Michigan State visits the Currey Tennis Center.
“Our team has been working for months to get ready for the season and practice has been exceptional,” Vanderbilt head coach Ian Duvenhage said. “We’re excited that we’ll get a chance to prove ourselves in competition starting Sunday against Michigan State.”
The Commodores (0-0) return four of the six starters from last season when Vanderbilt advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament with a 4-2 upset of No. 18 Tulsa in the first round. Returning from that group are senior and two-time All-SEC selection Ryan Preston, fellow senior Evan Dufaux, junior Nick Cromydas and sophomore Vijay Paul. Paul is ranked No. 79 in the preseason ITA singles poll.
Forming the rest of the roster are sophomores Scott Lieberman and James Moye and freshmen Adam Baker, Andy Pulido, Bryant Salcedo and Alex Zotov.
Michigan State marches a 4-0 record into a match at Middle Tennessee State on Friday evening. Last season, Michigan State finished 11-16 overall and 2-8 in the Big Ten. The Spartans are led by senior Nick Rinks, who qualified for the NCAA Singles Championships and was an All-Big Ten selection last season. Rinks also won Big Ten Player of the Week honors last week.
Live stats will be available on vucommodores.com throughout the match on Sunday.