March 1, 2018
The 34th-ranked Vanderbilt men’s tennis team travels south to Tuscaloosa, Ala. for the start of Southeastern Conference play. The Commodores take on the No. 44 Alabama Crimson Tide Friday evening at 6 p.m. CT. VU will return home on Sunday, hosting No. 22 Tulane at 9 a.m. CT.
The Dores open SEC play boasting a 9-2 overall record while riding a five-match winning streak. Vandy’s two losses came on the road against ranked teams; No. 1 Wake Forest (4-3) and No. 17 Columbia (4-3). This weekend, Vanderbilt will field two student-athletes in the ITA singles poll, No. 50 Cameron Klinger and No. 52 Daniel Valent.
After going undefeated last weekend, George Harwell was named the league’s Freshman of the Week. The Nashville native is Vandy’s lone undefeated player, amassing a nine-match dual win streak. Harwell owns an 18-4 overall record in his debut season.
Scouting the Crimson Tide:
- Alabama enters SEC play ranked 44th in the country
- The Crimson Tide boast a 14-1 record, with their lone loss coming against No. 20 Arizona State (4-3)
- UA has seven sweeps under its belt
- Two doubles teams represent Alabama in the ITA’s tandems poll; No. 34 Mazen Osama/Edson Ortiz and No. 40 Thibault Cancel and Alexey Nesterov
- Mazen Osama is Alabama’s ranked singles student-athlete, at No. 113 in the country
- Vanderbilt defeated Alabama 4-3 last season on Senior Day
- Vandy has downed Alabama three years in a row
Surveying the Wave:
- The Green Wave head to Nashville ranked 22nd in the country
- Tulane owns a 5-3 record
- Prior to facing the Commodores, Tulane takes on Middle Tennessee on Friday afternoon
- Tulane comes off a 7-0 home victory over previously ranked Texas Tech
- Tulane boasts two ranked singles student-athletes: No. 24 Constantin Schmitz and No. 95 Tyler Schick
- Luis Erlenbusch and Schlick come in at No. 50 in the ITA’s doubles poll