May 8, 2008
Visit Tournament Central Including Live Stats
OXFORD, Miss. – Vanderbilt’s 29th-ranked men’s tennis team will look to run its all-time record to 8-0 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament when it faces No. 38 Indiana at 2 p.m. CT on Saturday at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center.
Vanderbilt’s opening-round match against Indiana will follow the match between No. 4 Ole Miss and Marist, which starts at 11 a.m. The winner of the two first round matches will then play at 12 p.m. on Sunday for the right to go to the NCAA Final 16 in Tulsa, Okla., May 16-20.
The Commodores (13-9) will be making their seventh trip in the last eight years, including its second in a row, to the NCAA Tournament. Vanderbilt is 13-7 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. Like Vanderbilt, Indiana (16-9, 5-5 Big Ten) received an at-large bid to the tournament. This is the Hoosiers’ sixth trip in school history and first since 2001.
Vanderbilt will enter Saturday’s match having won two of its last three matches with its lone loss coming to No. 5 Georgia in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament. The Commodores closed the regular season with a 4-3 win at No. 37 Kentucky before dropping No. 48 Arkansas, 4-3, on its home court in the first round of the SEC Tournament. The win advanced Vanderbilt to the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament for the first time since 2003.
The Commodores finished fourth in the SEC East with a 4-7 record, but all three teams ahead of them (Georgia, Florida and Tennessee) are currently ranked in the top 10. The Commodores have defeated 10 ranked opponents this season.
With its win over Arkansas, Vanderbilt earned its fifth win over an SEC opponent. All five wins have been 4-3 decisions. In fact, each of Vanderbilt’s last four wins has come after losing the doubles point. In total, Vanderbilt has the lost the doubles point in 10 straight matches.
“We are playing very well in singles,” Vanderbilt head coach Ian Duvenhage said. “We’ve played woeful in doubles and our last four wins have come after we have lost the doubles point and come back to win four out of six singles. When we started practice, I told our guys that we needed to resolve some of our issues in doubles.”
Earning wins against four ranked opponents despite losing the doubles point, has given Vanderbilt a sense of confidence no matter the outcome in doubles.
“We are at the stage where if we lose the doubles point, we aren’t even panicking because we’ve won so many matches,” Duvenhage said. “Just winning the doubles point would be such a huge boost for us.”
Individually, Vanderbilt is led by three-time All-SEC selection Ryan Preston, who is ranked No. 53 in singles. The player playing the best tennis for Vanderbilt right now is Nick Cromydas, who has won three straight matches in the No. 2 position. Also ranked is Vanderbilt’s 45th-ranked doubles team of Preston and Vijay Paul.
Vanderbilt is 3-1 against the Big Ten this season with wins coming against No. 33 Wisconsin, Michigan State and Northwestern. Its lone loss came at Michigan. Indiana does not have anyone ranked in singles play, but its doubles team of Lachlan Ferguson and Phillip Eilers is ranked No. 46.
If Vanderbilt defeats Indiana, it will face either Marist or Ole Miss. The Commodores have not faced Marist this season, but have faced Ole Miss. The Rebels defeated Vanderbilt 6-1 in Nashville on March 28.
Last season, Vanderbilt upset No. 18 Tulsa, 4-2, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to host LSU.
NCAA Oxford Regional
Round 1 – Saturday, May 10
11 a.m. CT – Ole Miss vs. Marist
2 p.m. CT – Vanderbilt vs. Indiana
Round 2 – Sunday, May 11
12 p.m. CT