CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The No. 23 Vanderbilt men’s tennis team defeated the No. 34 Minnesota Gophers 4-3 Friday afternoon in their first match in Cambridge, Mass. With the victory, the `Dores improve their record to 8-2 on the season.
Vanderbilt took the doubles point over the Gophers with wins on courts one and three. This is a great feat, as Minnesota has only given up one match the entire season.
“I thought it was a really really good match for us”, said head coach Ian Duvenhage. “We knew that they were a really good team, they’d only lost one doubles match. And I don’t mean the doubles point, but one doubles match all year. We found a way to win the doubles point. But even though we won the point I knew that we were still in for a battle in singles.”
Ranked No. 2 in the nation, Rhys Johnson and Gonzales Austin brought a solid performance to the court with an easy win over Minnesota’s #52 Jack Hamburg and Mathieu Froment; 6-2. Daniel Valent and Suresh Eswaran were in a toe-to-toe battle at three; coming out victorious after taking the tiebreak; 7-6(4).
“Suresh (Eswaran) and Danny (Valent) came up clutch for us today in doubles. They some really good points which helped them to win in the tiebreaker and the doubles point for the team.”
With the doubles point in the `Dores possession, Vandy looked to singles play to seal the Commodore victory.
However the `Dores lost their upper hand as the Gophers came out victorious on courts five and four.
Court four played host to two freshmen talents, both with undefeated spring records. But Matic Spec came out on top, ending Valent’s 12-match win streak, which dated back to Nov. 7th.
“Danny (Valent) didn’t play badly. He didn’t play great in the first set, but he played well in the second. It was just one of those things where he came up against a guy that just played better than him. Matic Spec has also been undefeated this year, but Danny still did a good job.”
Junior Rhys Johnson was the only Commodore to get off the courts in two sets, taking the victory over Jack Hamburg to even the match score at 2-all.
The Gophers took the lead for the last time as Ruben Weber defeated Kris Yee on court three; 6-3, 6-3. Suresh Eswaran tied the match up one more time for the `Dores with a three set victory on six; 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.
At 3-all the `Dores relied on No. 8 Austin to pull out the win over No. 25 Leandro Toledo. Austin took the first set 7-6(1), but lost the second set five games to seven. Forced to go to a third set, the senior vet dug deep and broke Toledo’s four-match win streak by taking the last set; 6-1. With the victory the Miami, Fla. senior owns a career record of 96-40; just three wins from tying Bobby Reynolds Vanderbilt singles career win record.
The `Dores will finish out their weekend in Cambridge, as they take on host school No. 25 Harvard Sunday, Feb. 22nd at 12 p.m. CT.
Results:
No. 23 Vanderbilt, 4; No. 34 Minnesots 3
| 1. #8 Gonzales Austin (VANDY) def. #25 Leandro Toledo (MINN) 7-6, 5-7, 6-1 |
| 2. Rhys Johnson (VANDY) def. Jack Hamburg (MINN) 6-4, 6-3 |
| 3. Ruben Weber (MINN) def. Kris Yee (VANDY) 6-3, 6-3 |
| 4. Matic Spec (MINN) def. Daniel Valent (VANDY) 6-1, 6-4 |
| 5. Felix Corwin (MINN) def. Baker Newman (VANDY) 6-2, 6-0 |
| 6. Suresh Eswaran (VANDY) def. Mathieu Froment (MINN) 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 |
| Doubles competition |
| 1. #2 Gonzales Austin/Rhys Johnson (VANDY) def. #52 Jack Hamburg/Mathieu Froment (MINN) 6-2 |
| 2. Leandro Toledo/Felix Corwin (MINN) def. Ryan Smith/Baker Newman (VANDY) 6-2 |
| 3. Daniel Valent/Suresh Eswaran (VANDY) def. Matic Spec/Eric Frueh (MINN) 7-6 |
| Match Notes |
| Vanderbilt 8-2 (0-0 SEC); National ranking #23 |
| Minnesota 7-2 (0-0 Big Ten); National ranking #34 |
| Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (5,4,2,3,6,1) |
