This Week on West End

Looking ahead to what's on deck for the Commodores this week

 

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Each week This Week on West End takes a closer look at what’s in store for the Commodores in the coming days.

The Currey Tennis Center moves into the spotlight as both the Vanderbilt men’s and women’s tennis teams are scheduled to be on the courts this weekend. The Vandy men welcome in Lipscomb and Rice while the Commodore women host Lipscomb on Saturday and East Tennessee State on Sunday.

Memorial Gymnasium will grow quiet for the week as the Vanderbilt men’s hoops team will on the road for two key SEC contests. Vandy track and field will also be traveling as it heads to the University of Arkansas.

On Sunday, Super Bowl LV will be played and three participants will be representing the black and gold in Ke’Shawn Vaughn, Emmanuel Smith and Shelton Quarles.

Here’s more of all the other happenings around West End this week:

Super Bowl LV

Football’s biggest spectacle is scheduled to kickoff at 5:30 p.m. Sunday in Tampa where the Kansas City Chiefs and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will meet for the right to hoist the Lombardi Trophy.

Vaughn, a former Vanderbilt running back, played 10 games this season during his rookie campaign with the Buccaneers. The 5-foot-10, 214-pound running back (selected 76th overall during the 2020 NFL Draft) had 109 rushing yards on 26 carries and five receptions for 34 yards.

Vaughn scored his first NFL touchdown Oct. 4 against the Los Angeles Chargers on a 9-yard pass from quarterback Tom Brady and in the Buccaneers’ postseason run, Vaughn has played in one game – an NFL divisional round win at Washington – in which he had five carries for 21 yards.

Smith is in his second season with Kansas City and appeared in one game this season, a 33-29 win at New Orleans in which the 6-foot-2, 240-pound linebacker played on 16 special teams snaps. He is currently on the Chiefs’ practice squad/injured list.

Quarles is the director of football operations for Tampa Bay and was a second-team All-SEC selection for the Commodores from 1990-93.

Men’s basketball

The Vandy men’s basketball team has its eyes on a winning streak.

Maxwell Evans‘ 29 points led the Commodores to a 93-81 victory over visiting South Carolina on Saturday at Memorial Gymnasium. The triumph snapped a six-game losing streak for Vandy and marked the first SEC win of the season.

Vanderbilt plays three of its next four on the road starting with a two-game trip this week. The Dores head to Texas A&M at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday before going down to Georgia at noon CT Saturday.

Women’s tennis

Vandy made a bit of a statement Saturday.

The 15th-ranked Commodores bested visiting Miami (Florida) 5-2 at the Currey Tennis Center. Vanderbilt is now 4-0 this season.

Anna Ross and Holly Staff each won a singles match while also teaming up for a doubles victory. Marcella Cruz won in singles play again and the sophomore from New Jersey has yet to drop more than two games in a singles set this season.

The Dores will look to keep their unbeaten run going when hosting Lipscomb at 1 p.m. Saturday and East Tennessee State at 1 p.m. Sunday.

Men’s tennis

The Vanderbilt men’s tennis squad opened its 2021 season with a 6-1 victory over rival Belmont on Sunday at the Currey Tennis Center.

Marcus Ferreira and Macsen Sissan teamed up for a doubles win before each winning a singles match as well.

Vandy will now look to stay unbeaten when it hosts Lipscomb at 9 a.m. Saturday before facing Rice at 11 a.m. Sunday

Track and Field

The Vanderbilt track and field team returns to action Friday for an all-day event at the University of Arkansas.

The Arkansas Qualifier will be the Commodores’ second event of the 2021 schedule after competing in the two-day, Commodore Indoor earlier in January. Haley Bishop and Madison Fuller each set program records in the 60 meters during that event.

Competition is scheduled to begin at 12:25 p.m. Friday.

National Signing Day

Wednesday marks the second signing day for major college football. Vanderbilt signed 19 student-athletes in December to join the program.

First-year head coach Clark Lea will look to bolster his roster with the addition of more highly-ranked recruits.