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MTN begins SEC play this weekend

Feb. 28, 2013

NASHVILLE – Having just entered the top 25, the 25th-ranked Vanderbilt men’s tennis team hosts No. 39 LSU (March 1) and No. 47 Arkansas (March 3) this weekend to begin the 2013 SEC slate. Friday’s match versus LSU will begin at 2 p.m. and Sunday’s match versus Arkansas begins at 12 p.m. CT at the Currey Tennis Center.8493025.jpeg

Last Time Out

No. 25 Vanderbilt ran its win streak to four after defeating the 30th-ranked Indiana Hoosiers, 5-2, and the Belmont Bruins, 4-0, Sunday afternoon at the Currey Tennis Center. With the two wins, Vanderbilt is now 9-3 on the season. Vanderbilt is now 3-0 this season versus teams from the Big Ten Conference. After losing the doubles point versus Indiana, the Commodores regrouped and won five of the six matches in singles play. In the match versus Belmont, Vanderbilt won the doubles point and then received wins at Nos. 1, 4 and 5 to clinch the match. Kris Yee has won 10-straight singles matches, while Ryan Lipman leads the team with 20 singles victories.

Vanderbilt Notables

  • Ryan Lipman leads Vanderbilt with 20 wins this season and has won his last eight matches in singles play.
  • Lipman is 2-1 this season versus ranked players and 10-1 in dual play this season.
  • Gonzales Austin and Kris Yee each have 16 wins on the season, while Yee has won his last 10 singles matches.
  • Yee also leads the team with an 11-1 record in dual play this season.
  • Marc van der Merwe has only been on campus for just under two months and sports a 9-2 record and eight-straight wins.
  • Entering SEC play, the Commodores have three players with win streaks of at least eight matches (Lipman, van der Merwe and Yee).
  • The Commodores are 2-4 versus LSU in the last six meetings.
  • Vanderbilt is 3-3 versus Arkansas in the last six meetings.

About No. 39 LSU

The No. 39 LSU Tigers lost to No. 4 Ohio State in Columbus 7-0 on Sunday afternoon, February 24 in the first match of a doubleheader. LSU finished off the afternoon with a 6-1 victory over Wright State. The win pushed the Tigers to a 5-2 record at the start of conference play. Chris Simpson and Stefan Szacinski are the 41st-ranked doubles team in the ITA rankings.

About No. 47 Arkansas

The No. 47 University of Arkansas men’s tennis team defeated No. 71 Purdue in an intense 4-3 match in West Lafayette, Ind., on Saturday. The Razorbacks improved their 2013 season record to 11-3. Arkansas got off to a great start winning the doubles point in close wins coming from partners Hall Fess and Santiago Munoz and the duo of Mike Ward and Gregoire Lehmann. In singles, wins from juniors Manfred Jeske and Mike Nott gave Arkansas the 3-2 lead. Sophomore Victor Hoang clinched the victory with a three-set victory for the Hogs. Lehmann is the lone Razorback ranked in the ITA singles rankings at No. 125.

Live Scoring

Fans can follow the action at vucommodores.com with live scoring available . Also be sure to follow the Commodores on Twitter at @VandyMensTennis.

Up Next

Vanderbilt heads to College Station, Texas, to take on Texas A&M next Friday for the first of three-straight road matches. The meeting marks the first as SEC members.