ATHENS, Ga. – No. 39 Vanderbilt was defeated by the sixth-ranked Georgia Bulldogs, 4-3, Friday afternoon at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in the ITA Kick-Off.
The Commodores dropped to 1-2 on the season, while the win is the first of the season for Georgia (1-0). The Bulldogs advance to the championship match Saturday where they will face VCU for a spot in the National Team Indoor Championships.
Rhys Johnson and Jeff Offerdahl opened the dual with a doubles win over Garrett Brasseaux and Eric Diaz, 8-4. However, Georgia would go on to win two-of-three doubles matches to take a 1-0 lead going into singles play.
Ryan Lipman and Marc van der Merwe fell to the fifth-ranked duo in the country, Ben Wagland and Hernus Pieters, 8-4. Gonzales Austin and Suresh Eswaran fell to KU Singh and Nathan Pasha, 8-3.
In singles, Johnson registered an upset over the 16th-ranked player in the country, Hernus Pieters, 6-3, 6-3, in the No. 3 position. The win for Johnson is his first over a nationally-ranked player.
A battle of two top 20 players needed three sets to decide a winner in the No. 2 spot. In the end, No. 20 Gonzales Austin came out with a win over the Bulldogs’ No. 19 Nathan Pasha, 6-1, 1-6, 6-2.
No. 114 Kris Yee won the final singles match of the day with his three-set win over Nick Wood, 1-6, 7-6(3), 1-0 (10-7).
In the No. 1 position, eighth-ranked KU Singh defeated No. 17 Lipman in two sets, 6-3, 6-2. Georgia’s Wagland won in the No. 4 spot over Marc van der Merwe, 6-3, 6-0.
Georgia’s Austin Smith sealed the victory for the Bulldogs with his win in the No. 5 position over Offerdahl, 6-3, 7-5.
Vanderbilt will face No. 34 Minnesota at 9 a.m. Saturday morning in the consolation match.
Singles Results
1. No. 8 KU Singh (UGA) def. No. 17 Ryan Lipman (Vanderbilt) 6-3, 6-2
2. No. 20 Gonzales Austin (Vanderbilt) def. No. 19 Nathan Pasha (UGA) 6-1, 1-6, 6-2
3. Rhys Johnson (Vanderbilt) def. No. 16 Hernus Pieters (UGA) 6-3, 6-3
4. Ben Wagland (UGA) def. Marc van der Merwe (Vanderbilt) 6-3, 6-0
5. Austin Smith (UGA) def. Jeff Offerdahl (Vanderbilt) 6-3, 7-5
6. No. 114 Kris Yee (Vanderbilt) def. Nick Wood (Georgia) 1-6, 7-6 (3), 1-0(10-7)
Doubles Results
1. No. 5 Wagland/Pieters (Georgia) def. Lipman/van der Merwe (Vanderbilt) 8-4
2. Singh/Pasha (Georgia) def. Austin/Eswaran (Vanderbilt) 8-3
3. Johnson/Offerdahl (Vanderbilt) def. Brasseaux/Diaz (Georgia) 8-4
