Vandy hosts MSU/Bama in regular season finale

April 9, 2015

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The No. 21 Vanderbilt Commodores cap off regular season play this weekend at home, hosting No. 20 Mississippi State Friday and No. 59 Alabama Sunday.                                         

Prior to Sunday’s 1:00 pm match the Commodores will be honoring their three seniors: Gonzales Austin, Suresh Eswaran and Jeffrey Offerdahl.

“It’s a big weekend”, said head coach Ian Duvenhage, “big with a capital B.I.G. There are ramifications at this point, it’s the last weekend of the regular season before the SEC tournament. It’s huge, and we have a number of goals as a team to give ourselves the best draw and chance in the tournament. For those reasons these next two matches are extremely important. Looking further down the line to post season the NCAAs, we made a goal for ourselves to host and to have a chance to do that we’re going to have to have a good weekend.”

The Vanderbilt men’s tennis team took a break from competition this past weekend, and continued to focus on day-to-day fundamentals and preparations for the twilight of conference play. VU boasts a 16-6 (6-4) overall mark and 11-1 home record heading into its last two matches of the dual season.

`Dores in the rankings:

Singles — Gonzales Austin (9), Daniel Valent (83)

Doubles — Austin/Johnson (2), Binet/Newman (75)

Scouting the No. 20 Bulldogs:

The No. 20 MSU Bulldogs sit one spot above the Commodores, traveling to West End with a 17-5 record, 8-2 SEC mark. The Bulldogs lead the series over VU, 36-12, winning the last five of six meetings. Last season MSU topped VU, 4-3. MSU currently owns a five match win streak, upsetting UGA 4-2 and South Carolina 4-1.

The Bulldogs boast two student-athletes in the latest ITA rankings. Sophomore Florian Lakat leads the Bulldogs at No. 73. Mate Cutura, a junior from Posusje, Bosnia, follows at No. 96. In tandems, Starkville is the home to the No. 15 team in the nation; Julian Cash and Lakat.

Scouting the No. 59 Crimson Tide:

The Alabama Crimson Tide rolls into Nashville with a 15-15 record, and 3-8 mark. Alabama owns just one road win, defeating Auburn 4-1. Last season VU fell 4-1 to Alabama, ending the Tide’s four-match losing streak.

Alabama has just one student-athlete in the ITA singles rankings, with freshman Korey Lovett coming in at No. 106. Lovett is currently on a six-match losing streak, owning a 9-12 record playing primarily in the No. 1 spot of the Bama lineup.

In doubles action, junior Becker O’Shaughnessey joins Lovett as the No. 28 duo in the country, owning a 11-7 (5-4) record.

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