Jan. 26, 2017
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Vanderbilt men’s tennis team hits the road for the first time in the 2017 season, traveling to Chapel Hill, N.C. to compete in the ITA Kickoff Weekend.
Student-athletes from No. 7 North Carolina, Penn State, Vandy and Notre Dame will compete with hopes of securing their team’s place to the 2017 National Indoor Team Championships.
The third-seeded Commodores face Penn State on Friday at 9 a.m. CT.
There are 15 ITA Kickoff “regionals” played on both the men’s and women’s side, with four teams competing in each regional. The winners of the single-elimination event advance to next month’s ITA Division I National Team Indoor Championships.
Vanderbilt heads to North Carolina with a 5-1 record, having downed a slew of instate teams as well a Penn and Georgia State. The Commodores lone loss of the season came in a 4-3 battle against Northwestern. Against Georgia State, head coach Ian Duvenhage celebrated his 500th career win, and now sits just two wins away from his 150th Vanderbilt victory.
Cameron Klinger, Baker Newman and Billy Rowe all remain undefeated so far this dual season, boasting 5-0 records. Daniel Valent owns a 4-1 record and sits at No. 97 in the country.
While the Commodore’s opponent, Penn State, does not boast any ranked singles players or doubles teams, the squad went 22-9 last season and made an appearance in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
For updates and a behind the scenes look at the program, follow @VandyMensTennis on Twitter.