NASHVILLE, Tenn. — No. 23 Vanderbilt men’s tennis wrapped up its regular season with a Senior Day shutout win as the Commodores took down visiting Alabama 4-0 at the Lummis Family Tennis Center on Friday.
“I’m really, really proud of the guys today,” head coach Scott Brown said. “And not necessarily because we won, but because today, they showed what happens when you keep working and keep showing up. We’ve taken a number of losses on the chin the last few weeks in the SEC, but credit to these guys; they keep working, they keep the faith and they stay the course. At some point you will get rewarded when you stick with the process like they have, and today that happened for them.”
All three doubles matches between the two teams went to 5-5 with almost no separation across the board. Alabama (11-15, 3-10 SEC) struck first at Court 2 behind a 7-5 victory from Rohan Hazratwala and Matic Kriznik. Vanderbilt (16-11, 5-9 SEC) refused to go away, evening things up at No. 3 doubles after junior Danil Panarin and freshman Jack Satterfield picked up a 7-5 win of their own over Brendan Loh and Carlos Gimenez Perez. A top-15 battle at No. 1 doubles between No. 14 ranked senior Nathan Cox and freshman Hoyoung Roh and No. 8 Vit Kalina alongside Andrii Zimnokh went to a 6-6 tiebreaker with the opening point up for grabs. In a back-and-forth frame, the Commodore duo delivered in front of a raucous home crowd, taking the match 7-6 (8). The win marks two straight for Cox and Hoyoung over top-10 opponents.
After securing its first doubles point since March 13, Vanderbilt continued to put the pressure on the Tide. Cox notched his second victory on Senior Day at No. 4 singles, swiftly moving past Hazratwala 6-1, 6-0. His doubles teammate No. 98 Hoyoung was not far behind, sinking No. 82 Kriznik 6-1, 6-1. Freshman Jack Satterfield was the Commodore to finish off the job, clinching the match with a 6-1, 6-4 win against Yoshka Sborowsky. The 4-0 defeat of Alabama is Vanderbilt’s first shutout over an SEC opponent since doing so against Ole Miss on April 5, 2025, and ends an eight-match skid in conference play.
“There’s no better way to get back in the win column than on Senior Day, especially in front of an incredible crowd,” Brown said. “I want to extend a huge thank you to all the Vandy fans that turned out today – it was really special. It’s a pretty amazing atmosphere here that not too many places in the country can offer.”
“I want to dedicate this victory to our seniors, Tighe Brunetti and Nathan Cox,” Brown continued. “It was a great day for Nate. He clinched the doubles point early along with Roh, and then was also the first one to take care of business in singles; he played great today. As for Tighe, he’s been phenomenal. He is one of the heartbeats of this team. He brings the energy, the positive vibes and he’s such a special kid. We’re really pleased with how the day went. I mean, to win on Senior Day is special, but to have a conference shutout makes it even better; that doesn’t happen very often. I’m just really proud of the guys, and now we turn our full focus to taking the rest of the weekend and recovering as we start getting prepared for the SEC Tournament next week. Anything can happen, and we’re ready to take it to our opponents and surprise a few people down there.”
No. 23 Vanderbilt gets the rest of the weekend off before making the trek down to College Station for the 2026 SEC Men’s Tennis Championship hosted by Texas A&M. The opening round of the tournament is set to begin on April 15 from the Mitchell Tennis Center. For more information, updates and exclusive match day content, follow the Vanderbilt men’s tennis team, @VandyMTennis, on Instagram and X.
No. 23 Vanderbilt 4, Alabama 0
Doubles
1. No. 14 Cox/Hoyoung [Vanderbilt] def. No. 8 Kalina/Zimnokh [Alabama] 7-6 (5)
2. Hazratwala/Kriznik [Alabama] def. Pablo Martinez Gomez/Callum Markowitz [Vanderbilt] 7-5
3. Panarin/Satterfield [Vanderbilt] def. Loh/Gimenez Perez [Alabama] 7-5
Singles
1. No. 77 Martinez Gomez [Vanderbilt] vs. No. 92 Kalina [Alabama] 7-6 (8), 2-0, unfinished
2. No. 98 Hoyoung [Vanderbilt] def. No. 82 Kriznik [Alabama] 6-1, 6-1
3. Panarin [Vanderbilt] vs. Zimnokh [Alabama] 6-1, 4-4, unfinished
4. Cox [Vanderbilt] def. Hazratwala [Alabama] 6-1, 6-0
5. Satterfield [Vanderbilt] def. Sborowsky [Alabama] 6-1, 6-4
6. Donghyun Hwang [Vanderbilt] vs. Gimenez Perez [Alabama] 4-6, 3-1, unfinished
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (4,2,5)
