NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Vanderbilt men’s team kick started the 2017 season Sunday afternoon, hosting the 13th-ranked Northwestern Wildcats and the Belmont Bruins. VU went 1-1 on the day, falling 4-3 to NU and sweeping the Bruins.
Both freshmen, Billy Rowe and Panu Virtanen made their Commodore debuts on Sunday, both picking up victories in front of the home crowd.
“There are a lot more positives that we take away from these matches today than negatives, that’s for sure,” said head coach Ian Duvenhage. “We got ourselves in a hole today against a top-20 team in Northwestern by losing the doubles point, then we lost almost every first set. We slowly but surely turned things around and came back, and that was encouraging. We gave ourselves a chance and I really like the competitiveness and fight in this team.”
Following a tough doubles point loss and paramount singles victories by Rowe, Cameron Klinger and Baker Newman, VU fought back from a 3-1 deficit to tie the match against NU. All three Commodores were forced to third sets and dug deep to take Vanderbilt to its third straight 4-3 matchup against the Wildcats.
Rowe was the only Commodore to take his first set against NU, pulling off the win against Jason Seidman on court three, 6-3, 1-6, 6-1. Klinger, a native of San Jose, Calif., defeated Konroad Zieba, a regular in the ITA rankings, on court two, 6-7, 6-3, 6-2, while Newman downed Sam Shropshire, 6-7, 6-3, 7-5.
“Both Baker and Cam did really good jobs today… I don’t think we’ve ever defeated Shropsire and Zieba. Those matches were not easy, and our guys had to grind. I thought for his first foray in a college match format, Billy Rowe was terrific. Those matches, and Panu and Baker’s win at No. 2 doubles were really positive things we take away from today’s matches. ”
With the match tied at three-all, all eyes turned to junior Tate Allwardt as he faced-off against NU’s Ben Vandixhorn. The Boca Raton, Fla. native took the first set handedly, 6-3, but could not close out the win for the Commodores falling on court six, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.
Against Belmont, again the Commodores came out with a shaky doubles performance. However, VU’s Klinger/Rowe and Pen Binet/Daniel Valent were able to buckle down on key points to clinch the squad’s first doubles point of the season on courts one and three, 7-6 and 6-4, respectively.
In singles, Rowe picked up his second dual match win with a victory on court four over Bruno Russa, 6-2, 6-2. Alex Ross followed up the straight set victory with one of his own, making quick work on court five. The sophomore defeated Josiah Collins 6-0, 6-3 for his first win of the season. No. 97 Valent flew through his first set against Belmont’s Cedric Dujacquier on court one, 6-0, and clinched the match for the black and gold with a 7-6(1) second set tiebreaker.
Vanderbilt hosts Middle Tennessee and Lipscomb this Friday, with action starting at 2 p.m. For updates and a behind the scenes look at Vandy Men’s Tennis follow @VandyMensTennis on Twitter and Instagram.
NU Results Linked
Vanderbilt 4, Belmont 0
Doubles:
1) Cameron Klinger/Billy Rowe (VU) def. Cedric Dujacquier/Hendrik Inno (BU) 7-6
2) Zak Khan/Stephen Goldman (BU) led Panu Virtanen/Baker Newman (VU) 6-5
3) Pen Binet/Daniel Valent (VU) def. Vincent Sterkens/Bruno Russo (BU) 6-4
Singles:
1) #97 Daniel Valent (VANDY) def. Cedric Dujacquier (BELM) 6-0, 7-6
2) Baker Newman (VANDY) led Hendrik Inno (BELM) 7-6, 5-4
3) Panu Virtanen (VANDY) led Vincent Sterkens (BELM) 6-4, 6-6
4) Billy Rowe (VANDY) def. Bruno Russo (BELM) 6-2, 6-2
5) Alex Ross (VANDY) def. Josiah Collins (BELM) 6-0, 6-3
6) Pen Binet (VANDY) def. Zak Khan (BELM) 5-1
