NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Vanderbilt men’s tennis team won two of three doubles matches Sunday afternoon before picking up five wins in singles play to defeat Arkansas, 6-1, in the second to last match of the season. The Commodores are now 13-8 on the season and are 4-6 in the SEC, with one match remaining.
After winning their match on Friday in dramatic fashion, Ryan Lipman and Bryant Salcedo took care of business in the No. 2 doubles match, winning 8-5 to get things started for the Dores. Adam Baker and Alex Zotov followed that up with an 8-6 win on court one to clinch the doubles point. Charlie Jones and Blake Bazarnik were tied with Arkansas’ Manfred Jeske and Hall Fess, 8-8 (2-2 in the tiebreaker) when the point was clinched and both sides chose to end the match.
The Commodores have won the doubles point in 13 matches this season, and are 10-3 when picking up the first point.
In singles, Lipman quickly defeated Chris Nott, 6-2, 6-2, on court one to give Vanderbilt a 2-0 advantage. On court three, Salcedo picked up a 6-3, 6-4 win over Gregoire Lehmann.
Bazarnik clinched the victory for the Commodores on court four. He held off Matt Walters, 7-5, 6-4, to earn his 11th dual match victory this spring.
In a close match on court six, Alex DiValerio was unable to hold off Jeske, and fell 6-4, 7-5. Zotov added to the Commodores lead with a three-set win over Mike Ward on court five. Zotov easily won the first set, 6-1, before falling 6-7(2) in the second set. He picked up another 6-1 win in the third to take the match.
After dropping the first set 3-6, Baker fought back and tied the match with a 6-1 win in the second set. He closed out the match with a 6-4 win in the third.
“I’ve always felt that you have to play your best at the end of the season,” said head coach Ian Duvenhage. “We’re getting better and we’re moving in the right direction. I’m very happy with this weekend’s outcome.”
The Commodores will host Kentucky on Saturday in the final match of the regular season. Seniors Adam Baker, Andy Pulido, Bryant Salcedo and Alex Zotov will be honored before the match.
