AUBURN, Ala. – The Vanderbilt men’s tennis team concluded the SEC Fall Classic in Auburn Alabama with excellent performances in the finals of singles and doubles competition.
“As far as the weekend is concerned there were a lot of positive things,” said head coach Ian Duvenhage. “A number of guys played good tennis. There is a number of things that we can and will work on, but there were a lot of positives that we’ll build on when we get back to practice next week.”
Vanderbilt leaves the Plaines with the tournament doubles title as the sophomore/freshman duo of Daniel Valent and Cameron Klinger defeated teammates Kris Yee and Vikram Chari 8-5, then overpowered the Florida Gator’s Wardell/Kessler in the flight championship 8-5.
“Doubles was great today. I really liked the way Danny and Cameron played; especially at the end of their match against Florida, it was very high quality so we’re happy with their performances. Rhys (Johnson) and Pen (Binet) played a really good match against Tennessee also and we were serving for the match at 7-6, and just couldn’t close it out so we have to work on our serving issues.
The Commodores excelled in singles action on Sunday, with Valent defeating Florida’s Lipman to win the back draw; 6-4, 6-2. Yee advanced all the way to the tournament main draw singles finale without dropping a set, but the senior ultimately lost in a a competitive 6-3, 6-4 match to South Carolina’s Andrew Schaefer.
Vandy enjoy a short break from competition, before hosting their annual Commodore scramble Nov. 6th – 8th at the Currey Tennis Center.
Results:
A Doubles semifinals
Igor Smelyanski/Preston Touliatos (Tenn) def. Rhys Johnson/Pen Binet (Van) 8-7
B Doubles semifinals
Danny Valent/Cameron Klinger (Van) def. Kris Yee/Vikram Chari (Van) 8-5
B Doubles finals
Danny Valent/Cameron Klinger (Van) def. Joshua Wardell/McClain Kessler (Fla) 8-5
B Singles finals
Andrew Schaefer (SC) def. Kris Yee (Van) 6-3, 6-4
A singles consolation finals – N
Danny Valent (Van) def. Maxx Lipman (Fla) 6-4, 6-2
A singles consolation semis – NE
McClain Kessler (Fla) def. Alex Ross (Van) 6-4, 6-2
