Jan. 25, 2018
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Vanderbilt men’s tennis team heads to Winston-Salem, N.C. for the annual ITA Kick-Off Weekend. Hosted by No. 1 Wake Forest, the Dores are paired up with the likes of Wake Forest, Portland and Old Dominion.
As the site’s second-seed, the 3-0 Commodores square off against third-seeded Portland in their first road test of the season tomorrow at 1 p.m. CT. Winner of tomorrow’s match will face either the top-ranked Demon Deacons or the Monarchs in Saturday’s 4 p.m. regional championship.
There are 15 “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.
Wisconsin (women’s) and Washington (men’s) will serve as hosts for the National Team Indoors and received automatic invitations to the event and are exempt from competing in the Kick-Off Weekend.
Vanderbilt heads to Wake Forest having defeated Middle Tennessee, Michigan State and Lipscomb last weekend. George Harwell, Cameron Klinger, Baker Newman, No. 50 Daniel Valent and Panu Virtanen all remain undefeated in dual match play.
Scouting the Pilots:
Last Saturday, Portland fell in its season opener to Georgia State, 4-3. A senior led team, the Pilots boast seven seniors on their 11-man roster. Last year the Pilots went 18-3, and amassed an 8-1 slate in West Coast Conference Play. Portland fell to San Diego in last season’s WCC tournament semifinals.
For updates and a behind the scenes look at the program, follow @VandyMensTennis on Twitter.