NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The No. 30 Vanderbilt men’s tennis team began Southeastern Conference play Friday evening, falling to No. 22 Georgia, 6-1.
“I feel a lot better after this loss than I did on Monday against North Carolina,” said head coach Ian Duvenhage. “I didn’t like how we did things on Monday, and today even though we lost, I feel like this is a methodology of good things. I liked the way we competed. There were a few points here and there, which would have really made things interesting… doubles was close, Lachlan (McPhee) had a match point, Billy (Rowe) had chances in the first set. We just need to find ways to turn those and win those opportunities. It’s disappointing that we lost, but I’m proud of the way we hung in there. We’ll just get back to work tomorrow and learn the lessons we need to learn.”
Georgia nabbed the 1-0 lead with doubles victories on courts two and three. Wayne Montgomery and Walker Duncan earned the first victory of the evening, defeating Baker Newman and Panu Virtanen 6-3 on court two. Following the loss at No. 2, the `Dores and Dawgs were in tight matches on the remaining courts, with the majority of games going to deuce points.
Cameron Klinger and Pen Binet earned their first ranked tandems win of the season on court one. Following a spotless 40-0 game and an ace the team forced a tiebreaker. The duo knocked off No. 44 Jan Zielinski and Robert Loeb, 7-6(3), just seconds before the Bulldogs clinched on court two over Lachlan McPhee and Billy Rowe, 7-5
In singles, the `Dores were off to a slow start, falling in five-of-six first sets. Vandy’s lone singles point came on court one as Klinger earned a 3-6, 7-6(3), 6-2 win over No. 30 Wayne Montgomery. Klinger is now 10-2 on the dual season and undefeated against UGA and Montgomery. The ranked win is the sophomore’s second highest after defeating Montgomery last season and Texas Tech’s Jolan Cailleau who were both ranked 25th.
Georgia’s first singles win came on court five as Duncan edged Rowe out of the first set 7-6 and then took the match in the second set by a score of 6-1. No. 38 Reinberg and No. 114 Daniel Valent battled back and forth on court two, with the Bulldog taking the close competition, 6-4, 7-5.
Following Klinger’s victory, No. 104 Nathan Ponwith rebounded to defeat Newman in three sets, 6-7, 6-2, 7-5 for the clinch on court three. McPhee played one of his most competitive matches of the season against Jan Zielinski on court four. The junior from Brisbane, Australia fell in a hard fought match on four, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6(8).
Georgia’s final blow came on court six as Robert Loeb took the first set over Virtenen, 6-0, but the freshman Commodore powered back into the second set. Virtanen fell just short of forcing a third set, 6-4.
The Commodores will be back in action Sunday, hosting in-state rival Tennessee at 1 pm. Sunday’s match versus UT is Kid’s Day. Inflatables, face painting and a sign creation station will be set up for fans.
