NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The No. 30/19 Vanderbilt men’s tennis team edged out the 38th-ranked Tennessee Volunteers Sunday evening by a score of 4-3.
With the victory, the Commodores improve to 9-5 on the season and 1-1 in conference play. Vanderbilt has claimed four-straight contests against the Vols, with 4-3 scores in back-to-back years. Freshman Billy Rowe earned the clinch for the black and gold with a three-set victory on court five.
“Before the match everyone said that if you can beat Tennessee it’s one of the best feelings in the world,” said Rowe. “But honestly I didn’t think about that too much during the match, but that motivation hyped up the match a little more for me.”
Following doubles wins on courts one and two, the Commodores earned the 1-0 advantage over UT. Cameron Klinger and Pen Binet downed Luis Valero and Jack Schipanski, 6-3, while Lachlan McPhee and Billy Rowe earned their first ranked victory. The duo downed No. 25 Scott Jones and Timo Stodder, 7-6(4), for the clinch.
In singles, the `Dores quickly increased the lead to 3-0 as No. 61 Klinger and No. 114 Daniel Valent defeated opponents on courts one and two in straight sets.
Klinger earned his fourth ranked victory of the dual season with a tight 6-4, 6-4 victory over No. 76 Stodder. The sophomore from San Jose, California remains undefeated against ranked opponents.
On court two, Valent extended the VU lead with a victory over Valero. The junior Commodore did not allow his opponent a single game in the first set and pulled off the second set, 6-4.
Tennessee took the next three matches in a row to level the team score, 3-3. The Vols earned their first singles victory by freshman Scott Jones. The Australian defeated Baker Newman 6-1, 7-6(4) on court three. Lachlan McPhee battled on court four against Srdjan Jakovljevic, but the Volunteer earned key points in the third set for the 1-6, 6-2, 7-5 victory.
UT’s Luca Wiendenmann tied the match with a win on court six. The freshman Vol downed Panu Virtanen in a three set contest, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2. At 3-all all eyes shifted over to court five as Rowe was facing a battle of his own.
“I told Billy after our match against Georgia that he played so well, but what we want from our guys is after you take a set 6-4, we’ve got to be a little better in the second set,” Duvenahge said. “So after he lost his first set today I reminded him of what we talked about after Georgia and that if he lifted his levels and won the second set he would win the match. He really did a great job of competing and playing disciplined and patient tennis. In the third-set he played so well and we just stayed focused on what was working and tired to make him smile and relax. I reminded him that tight matches like this one was the reason he wanted to play college tennis, and he came through with flying colors. Billy got the game ball today.”
At No. 5 singles, Rowe dropped his first set against Jack Schipanski, but the freshman rallied back into the second set, 7-5, to force a third. The freshman from Coronado, Calif. played near perfect tennis in his final set, only allowing his in-state rival one final game in his 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 victory.
“During the third-set I was glancing down at the other three courts hoping that it wouldn’t come down to me (laughing), and Ian (Duvenhage) looked at me and said `act like it’s going to come down to you.’ After that I just tried to have tunnel vision and focus on my court only. I just played every point. After every point Ian was there for me saying, `keep fighting, keep fighting’. I didn’t want to give up one single easy point and make him earn everything… in the end, I think I did that pretty well.”
The Commodores will be on the road next weekend, facing the Texas A&M Aggies Friday night and the LSU Tigers Sunday afternoon.
