April 1, 2018
NASHVILLE –The 22nd-ranked Vanderbilt men’s tennis team picked up a dominant 7-0 sweep over the LSU Tigers on Sunday afternoon to cap regular season home play.
Sunday’s finale began with the Commodores honoring their four seniors; Tate Allwardt, Lachlan McPhee, Baker Newman and Daniel Valent.
“This is a great group of seniors,” said head coach Ian Duvenhage. “These four are honestly one of my favorite senior groups, ever. They’ve been good citizens, they try hard, they’re excellent students and they’ve represented Vanderbilt University extremely well. I’m glad that Danny [Valent] and Baker [Newman] got to go out with wins. Danny had one of the best matches I’ve ever seen him play. Lachlan [McPhee] didn’t get to finish his doubles match, but they were playing well. And as always, Tate [Allwardt] was showing his leadership by being vocal for his teammates in the stands. They’re a special group, and we’re going to miss them.”
The Dores opened play by dominating in doubles action, taking courts one then three in 6-2 victories. No. 46 Cameron Klinger and Billy Rowe were first off the court for the black and gold, defeating Agie Moreno and Rafael Wagner. George Harwell and Baker Newman clinched the point advantage over LSU’s Shane Monroe/Stewart Block on court three.
No. 75 Panu Virtanen and Lachlan McPhee were tied 5-all on court two at the conclusion of doubles play.
With the doubles point in their possession, the Commodores came out in singles play to take five-of-six first sets.
No. 56 Valent, one of Vanderbilt’s four seniors, flew through his final regular season match at the Currey Tennis Center, limiting LSU’s Wagner to one game throughout the entire match. The Commodore earned his 105th victory with a 6-1, 6-0 win and now sits just three wins shy of the men’s single season win record.
100th-ranked Newman also saw success on his senior day, taking a straight-set win over Nikola Samardzic on court three. The 6-3, 6-2 victory was Newman’s 80th career singles win.
The Dores carried on success as Harwell ensured the victory for the Commodores with a 6-4, 6-3 win against Moreno on court five. 22nd-ranked Klinger gave Vandy the 5-0 advantage. The junior picked up his third three-set win of the season in a 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 win over Monroe.
Vanderbilt’s remaining two victories came on courts four and six.
Rowe earned the comeback victory of the day, rebounding to take his match against Julian Saborio in three sets. Following a 7-5 first set loss, the Vandy sophomore willed himself to power past the Tiger in the remaining sets for the victory, 5-7, 6-4, 7-5.
“Billy Rowe has come back from being a match point down a number of times,” Duvenhage recalled. “I just had the feeling that his opponent was getting tired, and if we could just get over the hump he’d take the match. Billy is a tough kid and he’s hung in there for us all year long.
“These guys came here to play Division I college tennis in the SEC because it’s hard. Today when it got hard, Billy and a few others stepped up and responded. As a coach that’s what you want to see, you want them to come through when challenges are presented.”
Alex Ross made quick work against Block in his first SEC match of the season. The junior took the No. 6 singles position in straight sets to ensure the sweep, 6-4, 6-3.
“This was a great match as we head out on the road,” Duvenhage continued. “With the teams we still have left to face and their rankings, there are still opportunities for us to be a potential host in the NCAA tournament. If we can find a way to run the table the rest of the season I think we will get the opportunity to host.”
The Commodores remain on the road for the remainder of the regular season beginning with Kentucky next Sunday at 1 p.m. CT.