Feb. 19, 2008
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Vanderbilt senior Ryan Preston was named the Southeastern Conference Men’s Tennis Player of the Week on Tuesday for his performance in Vanderbilt’s 5-2 win over No. 28 Wisconsin last Sunday.
The honor comes almost five years since former Commodore Bobby Reynolds earned Vanderbilt’s last SEC Player of the Week honor on Feb. 24, 2003.
A native of Northbrook, Ill., Preston earned the honor after tallying two victories over ranked opponents in Vanderbilt’s win against Wisconsin. Preston’s victories helped No. 29 Vanderbilt move to 6-1 on the season, including a 3-1 ledger against ranked opponents.
In the No. 1 singles match, Preston (8-7) earned a dramatic 7-6(3), 3-6, 7-6(3) upset of No. 39 Moritz Baumann. Preston’s win tied the match at two and shifted the momentum of the match to Vanderbilt’s side. His win was the first of three straight matches that had two sets go to a tiebreaker.
“I am very proud of Ryan,” Vanderbilt head coach Ian Duvenhage said. “He missed two days of practice last week due to illness and he didn’t feel good during the match. He nevertheless brought his usual “never say die” attitude to the match and found a way to win. I honestly feel that we would have lost if he didn’t win his match.”
Preston opened the day by teaming with sophomore Vijay Paul to defeat Wisconsin’s 26th-ranked doubles team of Jeremy Sonkin and Luke Rassow-Kantor 9-8(4) in the No. 1 doubles match.
Both of Preston’s wins against the Badgers were his first of 2008 against ranked opponents.
The weekly honor marks the second time this season that a Commodore has been honored by the SEC. On Jan. 29, Alex Zotov was named SEC Freshman of the Week for his play against Michigan State.
Vanderbilt will return to the court at 11 a.m. on Sunday at the Currey Tennis Center when No. 55 Middle Tennessee State makes the short trip to Nashville.