April 3, 2008
Live Stats vs. Tennessee | Live Stats vs. Georgia
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – With just two weeks remaining in the regular season, Vanderbilt’s 30th-ranked men’s tennis team will embark on a three-match road trip to close the regular season. This weekend, the Commodores (11-6, 3-5 Southeastern Conference) will play at No. 8 Tennessee on Friday and at No. 3 Georgia on Sunday.
Vanderbilt’s match at Tennessee (17-2, 6-2 SEC) is slated for 1 p.m. at the UT Outdoor Varsity Courts. The Commodores will play Georgia (18-1, 8-0 SEC) at 12 p.m. Sunday at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex.
The Commodores are coming off a split with No. 7 Ole Miss and No. 49 Mississippi State last weekend. Vanderbilt dropped a 6-1 decision to Ole Miss before downing Mississippi State, 4-3.
All three of Vanderbilt’s SEC wins have been of the 4-3 variety. Junior Nick Cromydas has clinched two of those wins, including VU’s win over Mississippi State last week. Cromydas leads the team with a 5-3 record in SEC play. In the individual rankings released on Tuesday, Vanderbilt has two players ranked in singles play. Senior Ryan Preston moved up 20 spots to No. 55, while sophomore Vijay Paul dropped one spot to No. 106.
Tennessee has won its last four matches since dropping a 4-3 decision at Florida on March 18. The Vols only other SEC loss was to Ole Miss (4-3). In recent years, Vanderbilt has had success against its intra-state rival. Prior to last season’s 6-1 loss to Tennessee, Vanderbilt had won three of the previous four meetings.
Individually, Tennessee has three players ranked in singles. Freshman J.P. Smith is ranked No. 25, freshman Boris Conkic is ranked No. 72 and senior Kaden Hensel is ranked No. 96. In doubles, Tennessee’s duo of Hensel and Smith is ranked No. 17.
Georgia will play No. 37 Kentucky on Friday before playing VU. With one win this weekend, the Bulldogs will clinch at least a share of the SEC title. Georgia is the only team in the SEC without a loss in league play. Georgia’s lone loss this season was a 4-3 loss to No. 2 Ohio State on Feb. 17.
Individually, the Bulldogs have five players ranked in singles. Senior Travis Helgeson is ranked No. 3, Nate Schnugg is ranked No. 11, Jamie Hunt is ranked No. 36 and Luis Flores and Javier Garrapiz are ranked No. 75. In doubles play, the duo of Hunt and Schnugg are ranked No. 26 and Helgeson and Garrapiz are ranked No. 55.
Results from both matches will be available on vucommodores.com at the conclusion of play.