Feb. 2, 2017
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – It’s going to be a busy weekend at the Currey Tennis Center for the Vanderbilt men’s tennis team, as the squad hosts No. 1 Virginia on Friday, Western Michigan on Saturday and caps the weekend on Sunday against Texas Tech.
The Commodores enter the weekend with a 6-2 record, most recently falling to No. 7 North Carolina in the ITA Kickoff Regional Championship. Last weekend VU debuted transfer Lachlan McPhee, who competed at No. 4 singles and No. 3 doubles alongside Billy Rowe.
Vandy looks to square off with its second-consecutive Top 10 foe, facing top-ranked Virginia at 5 p.m. on Friday. Head coach Ian Duvenhage sits just one victory away from his 150th Commodore win.
Scouting the Cavaliers:
Virginia opens its 2017 season in Nashville against the Commodores. Ranked as the No. 1 team in the nation, UVA has won the last three consecutive NCAA tournament titles. In 1981, Vanderbilt women’s head coach Geoff Macdonald was the first Cavalier to compete in the NCAA singles tournament.
UVA went 30-4 (11-1) last season and boasts two ranked singles players in Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (39) and JC Aragone (58). The Cavaliers also travel one ranked tandems team, as Luca Cointeli and Kwiatkowski came in at No. 11 in the first installment of Oracle/ITA individual rankings.
Watching Western Michigan:
Western Michigan travels to West End with a 3-2 overall record, having defeated Illinois-Chicago, Detroit and Green Bay. The squad’s two losses came consecutively against Iowa (5-2) and Minnesota (4-3).
Last season the Broncos compiled a 20-6 record, going 6-1 in the Mid-American Conference. The program was picked during the preseason to win the MAC with key returners Matt Hamilton, Mail Steiner and Daniel Loebel back for WMU.
Red Raider Report:
Texas Tech (2-3) travels a trio of ranked singles players to Music City with Jolan Cailleau (25), Connor Curry (104) and Ronit Bisht (120) playing on courts one, three and five for the Red Raiders. The squad fields two ranked doubles teams as well with Curry/Bisht in at No. 50 and Alex Sendegeya/Bjorn Thomson rounding out the rankings at No. 60.
TTU is currently on a three-match losing streak, having fallen to Central Florida, Iowa and Florida State.
On Friday, the first 100 fans receive free popcorn prior to Vandy’s matchup against Virginia. Against Texas Tech on Sunday, the first 100 fans will enjoy breakfast at the Currey Tennis Center with a free donut.
For updates and a behind the scenes look at Vandy Men’s Tennis follow @VandyMensTennis on Twitter and Instagram.