NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Vanderbilt men’s tennis has a pair of SEC matches on deck for the weekend. The Commodores host Texas A&M on Friday at 4 p.m. for Senior Day and a celebration of head coach Ian Duvenhage’s retirement. The Dores will then travel north to face Kentucky on Sunday at 11 a.m. CT.
Conference Competition
No. 21 Texas A&M travels to Nashville; they are 13-8 overall and 5-3 in SEC play. The Aggies are coming off a 2-0 weekend after beating No. 19 Florida 4-3 and No. 66 Rice 4-2 in a home doubleheader on Saturday. The Aggies have four ranked singles players: No. 41 Noah Schachter, No. 62 Raphael Perot, No. 110 Trey Hilderbrand and No. 121 Pierce Rollins. Schachter and Hilderbrand also make up the team’s ranked doubles pair, coming in at No. 40.
On Sunday, the Dores will travel to No. 6 Kentucky (19-4, 7-3). The Wildcats welcome the Commodores after going 0-2 last weekend, falling 5-2 to No. 8 Georgia in Athens and 4-0 to No. 14 Tennessee in Knoxville. The Wildcat squad has two ranked singles players (No. 20 Liam Draxl and No. 55 Joshua Lapadat) and two ranked doubles pairs (No. 25 Taha Baadi/Alafia Ayeni and No. 66 Lapadat/JJ Mercer).
Senior Day for the Dores
From Tallin, Estonia, Siim Troost spent two years competing in the Big Ten at Minnesota before transferring to Vanderbilt in 2021. Troost began his collegiate career as a Golden Gopher amassing a 7-3 singles record competing primarily at the No. 3 spot and a 5-2 doubles record at the No. 1 position. In Troost’s sophomore season, he and Gopher teammate reached the No. 4 spot in ITA’s national rankings, claiming four victories against top-five doubles opponents. The duo also received an at-large bid to the doubles NCAA tournament where they earned All-American status after defeating the tournament’s No. 1 overall seed. Troost’s career as a Commodore began his junior year when he went 19-12 overall in singles play, including a five-SEC match singles win streak. In doubles play, Troost held a 15-8 record, all at the No. 1 position. His doubles victories included five against nationally ranked opponents and three to clinch the doubles point for the Dores. So far as a senior, Troost and teammate Jeremie Casabon sit No. 33 in ITA doubles rankings, holding a 7-3 record at the No. 1 doubles spot, including victories over five SEC opponents, four of which are nationally ranked.
From Auckland, New Zealand, Macsen Sisam has been a mainstay for the Commodores, repping the black and gold for five seasons. As a freshman, Sisam held an 8-3 home record and earned a seven-match win streak. His sophomore season saw him reach a five-match win streak, Round of 32 at ITA Regionals, and four doubles wins at the No. 2 position before the season ended due to the pandemic. Sisam started his junior season winning four-straight matches in both singles and doubles play. As a senior, Sisam went 15-4 in singles play, including an eight-match singles win streak. In doubles play, he held an 8-3 record, clinched two doubles points, and posted two victories over nationally-ranked opponents. So far as a fifth-year, Sisam has beaten three SEC opponents in singles play, and he and teammate Joubert Klopper earned a six-match doubles win streak earlier this season.
Up next: The Dores round out regular season play next weekend, traveling to face LSU in Baton Rouge on Sunday at noon.
