NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Vanderbilt men’s tennis team snapped a three match losing streak with a 6-1 win over Ball State on Wednesday evening. For the 10th time this season, the Commodores won the doubles point, and then went on to win five of six singles matches.
Due to rain in the area, the match began indoors, and Vanderbilt quickly took control of the doubles matches. Bryant Salcedo and Blake Bazarnik stayed undefeated in doubles matches with an 8-3 win on court three. Charlie Jones and Alex Zotov clinched the point on court two, also with an 8-3 victory. Ryan Lipman and Adam Baker completed the sweep with an 8-4 win in the No. 1 match.
The first portion of singles was played outside, but the matches were quickly moved back indoors as the rain returned to the area. Salcedo quickly increased Vanderbilt’s lead with a 6-0, 6-0 win in the No. 5 match. Baker followed that up with a 6-2, 6-1 win over 103rd ranked Cliff Morrison in the No. 2 match. Just minutes later, Bazarnik clinched the victory for Vanderbilt with a 6-1, 6-4 win on court four.
Lipman held off Dalton Albertin for a 6-4, 6-4 win in the No. 1 match. After dropping his first set 3-6, Jones evened up the match with a 6-1 win in the second set. Jones picked up another 6-1 win in the third set to give the Commodores a 6-0 lead in the match. Alex DiValerio dropped a 6-4, 7-5, decision to Austin Sansone in the No. 6 match.
“It was a great win for us this afternoon,” said assistant coach Jamie Hunt. “Everyone played really well, and now we can look ahead to the tough weekend. We’re looking forward to playing Georgia and Tennessee at home, they should both be really intense matches.”
The Commodores host Georgia on Friday at 5 p.m. before returning to the courts on Sunday against Tennessee.
