CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Vanderbilt men’s tennis closed out the Orange & Blue Classic on Sunday with four singles wins against Penn. The three-day event hosted by Virginia marked the opening of the 2023-24 campaign for the Commodores under first-year head coach Scott Brown.
Dore Nathan Cox, preseason ranked No. 119, dropped just three games against Aaron Sandler. Jeremie Casabon, Joubert Klopper and Michael Ross all notched straight-set victories, as well. The Quakers had swept Vandy in doubles earlier in the day.
“It was great to see these young men compete for the first time this weekend at the Orange & Blue Classic,” Brown said. “First off, thank you to Brian Rasmussen and Jacob Hayley at UVA for running a world class event. We, as a coaching staff, learned a lot about this team this weekend. And the biggest thing we learned is that this team has some real fight and heart in them. They could have easily gone away when they faced adversity this weekend, but they kept their heads down and kept working and taking care of the small details and it showed today on the last day.
“Yes, we have a lot of things to continue to work and improve on and we will continue to do this, but the most important thing is that the culture got a little bit stronger this weekend and this is what is most important to us as a staff. Inch by inch, this team is buying into the process and if they can continue to stay the course throughout the ups and downs that will continue to come our way then I know this team is going to catch fire at some point this season.”
Vanderbilt next travels to Tulsa, Oklahoma, for the ITA All-American Championship Sept. 30-Oct. 8 and also will compete at the Southern Intercollegiate, Sept. 29-Oct. 1 in Athens, Georgia.
Sunday Results
Singles
Michael Ross (Vanderbilt) def. Luka Butera (Penn) 6-3, 6-4
Joubert Klopper (Vanderbilt) def. Baylor Sai (Penn) 6-3, 6-2
#119 Nathan Cox (Vanderbilt) def. Aaron Sandler (Penn) 6-2, 6-1
Jeremie Casabon (Vanderbilt) def. Parashar Bharadwaj (Penn) 6-3, 6-4
Sameer Gangoli (Penn) def. Juan Lopez (Vanderbilt) 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-2)
Zachery Lim (Penn) def. Paul Wang (Vanderbilt) 6-4, 6-2
Doubles
Manfredi Graziani/Lim (Penn) def. #40 Cox/Casabon (Vanderbilt) 8-7 (7-1)
Kian Vakili/Sandler (Penn) def. Ross/Lopez (Vanderbilt) 8-3
Parashar Bharadwaj/Gangoli (Penn) def. Klopper/Wang (Vanderbilt) 8-5
