Jan. 21, 2010
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – After opening its 2010 dual season with a bang last weekend, Vanderbilt’s men’s tennis team will try to keep its momentum going when it hits the road for the first time this spring to face No. 52 N.C. State and No. 33 Michigan at the J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center in Raleigh, N.C. this weekend.
Ranked No. 55, Vanderbilt will face N.C. State at 3 p.m. Friday and Michigan at noon on Saturday. Vanderbilt and N.C. State enter Friday’s match with identical 2-0 records. Last week, Vanderbilt earned a pair of 7-0 victories over Belmont and Chattanooga, while N.C. State knocked off North Carolina Central and Gardner-Webb by 7-0 scores as well.
Vanderbilt’s match against Michigan will be the Wolverines’ first dual match of the spring. Michigan opened its spring by competing at the Key Biscayne Individuals in Florida Jan. 8-10. Michigan is led by Jason Jung, who is ranked No. 50 in singles and Evan King, who is ranked No. 73.
This will be the third and final year that the three programs will convene at one location to play a pair of matches. In 2008, the three teams gathered in Ann Arbor, Mich., where Vanderbilt knocked off N.C. State (5-2), but lost to the Wolverines (5-2). Last year, the three teams met in Nashville, where the Commodores again lost to Michigan (4-3), but defeated the Wolf Pack (4-3).
Vanderbilt has three players ranked in singles, led by freshman Ryan Lipman, who is ranked No. 29. Also ranked are sophomore Charlie Jones (No. 53) and senior Vijay Paul (No. 71). Vanderbilt also has three doubles teams ranked. Adam Baker and Charlie Jones are ranked No. 24, Vijay Paul and Ryan Lipman are ranked 30th and Paul and Bryant Salcedo are ranked 57th.