Jan. 27, 2011
PALO ALTO, Calif. – After opening the season with victories over Tennessee Tech and Lipscomb, the Vanderbilt men’s tennis team hits the road this weekend to play in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend. Playing in Palo Alto, Calif., the Commodores will face Nebraska in the opening round and either host Stanford or Santa Clara in the second round.
The Commodores, ranked No. 38 in the latest Campbell’s/ITA College Tennis Rankings, kicked off the spring season with two 7-0 victories over Tennessee Tech and Lipscomb. Every member of the team tallied at least one win in singles or doubles play. Sophomore Ryan Lipman is ranked No. 43 in the latest singles rankings.
Nebraska enters the weekend ranked No. 41 and holds a 2-1 record. The Huskers took part in the Seminole Quad last weekend in Tallahassee, Fla., and opened the season with a 7-0 loss to No. 27 Florida State. Nebraska bounced back with two 6-1 wins over Furman and Florida Atlantic. Nebraska has two players ranked in the singles Top 100 – Benedikt Lindheim at No. 97 and Calin Paar at No. 99.
Stanford and Santa Clara will face each other in the other opening round match of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend. Stanford, ranked No. 8 in the nation, stands at 1-0 on the season. The Cardinal defeated Sacramento State, 7-0, to kick off the season. Stanford has three players ranked in the ITA National Singles Rankings: No. 15 Bradley Klahn, No. 41 Ryan Tahcher and No. 61 Alex Clayton. Klahn and Thacher are also ranked No. 16 as a doubles pair.
Ranked at No. 54, the Santa Clara Broncos enter the weekend with a 3-0 record. The Brocos opened the season with a double-header sweep of Sonoma State and UC Davis and knocked off UC Santa Cruz, 7-0, last night.
The winner of each of the 15 ITA Kick-Off Weekend sites will advance to the ITA National Team Indoor Championships, Feb. 18-21 at the Lloyd Nordstrom Tennis Center in Seattle.
Live scoring and video will be available for all matches this weekend and can be found here.