Feb. 12, 2016
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The No. 27 men’s tennis team welcomes No. 25 Duke and Tennessee State this Saturday, Feb. 13th for doubleheader action. VU takes on the Blue Devils at 12:00 pm, with the Tigers following at 4:00 pm. Action will take place inside the Currey Tennis Center.
Vanderbilt enters the weekend with a 3-3 record. The squad’s three victories come from wins over Furman and Lipscomb, with the third being a road win over MTSU. Last weekend the Commodores endured two heartbreaking losses to Memphis by a score of 5-1 and Harvard, 4-3.
Sophomore Daniel Valent enters the weekend ranked No. 97 in the ITA singles polls, and owning 10-match win streak, which dates back to Oct. 23rd.
The Commodores have had success at No. 1 doubles, with the duo of Rhys Johnson and Cameron Klinger owning a 5-1 record. The team suffered its first career loss last weekend, falling in a tiebreaker to decide the doubles point.
Scouting the Blue Devils:
Duke heads into Saturday’s noon match with a 2-5 record. Duke’s two wins came over Elon and Tennessee.
The Blue Devil’s have two ranked singles players, with Nicolas Alvarez leading both squads in the rankings at No. 17. Freshman Catalin Mateas comes in at No. 91 in the Oracle/ITA polls, and has recently moved up to the No. 2 spot of the singles lineup with a 5-2 singles record.
Scouting Tennessee State:
The TSU Tigers own a 4-1 record, with three victories coming in 7-0 sweeps. Two of the Tiger’s wins come over Arkansas Pine Bluff, and their one loss came in a 6-3 defeat over McKendree.