ATHENS, Ga. – Vanderbilt’s weekend came to an end on Sunday afternoon at the Southern Intercollegiate Championship as Gonzales Austin was eliminated in the semifinals of the singles bracket and the Commodores top doubles pair was also eliminated.
Vanderbilt head coach Ian Duvenhage was pleased with his team’s play over the course of the weekend, especially for the first tournament of the weekend.
“I thought all in all it was a good weekend,” Duvenhage said. “I thought AJ (Austin) did some great things. I saw some great things from Kris Yee. His second round match I saw some really great effort, in which he beat a really good player from North Florida. Michael Retta played some good tennis. I think just about everybody showed us some good stuff.”
Austin finished a great tournament after making it to the semifinals of the Division I singles bracket. The Miami, Fla., native was knocked off by the No. 2 seed Jonas Lutjen from Ole Miss 6-2, 6-1.
“He (Austin) played 12 sets in four matches since Friday and I think it just caught up to him,” said Duvenhage on Austin’s play in the tournament. “He didn’t have a whole lot left in the semis against (Jonas) Lutjen from Ole Miss.”
The sophomore, Austin, advanced to the semifinals by winning his quarterfinal match against Florida’s Michael Alford earlier on Sunday morning.
The highly-regarded Commodore doubles pair of Austin and Ryan Lipman was also eliminated Sunday afternoon due to a walkover in the quarterfinals as Austin began to experience tightness in his back.
“It (his back) started to tighten up on him,” Duvenhage explained. “We decided to pull him out of doubles, so unfortunately Ryan and AJ (Austin) had to default in doubles.”
Austin and Lipman defeated Mercer’s Victor Dias and Joao Pagan, 8-6, in a very competitive match to make it to the quarterfinals.
The Commodores’ other doubles pairing in the Division I bracket, Rhys Johnson and Jeff Offerdahl, fell to Georgia’s Hernus Pieters and KU Singh, 8-3 in the round of 16.
In the Division II doubles bracket, Michael Retta and Kris Yee were defeated by Presbyterian’s Grayson Mills and Rafael Berghaus, 8-3.
Offerdahl stayed alive in the Division I singles consolation bracket after picking up wins in the first and second rounds on Sunday. Offerdahl began the day with a win over Clemson’s Dominique Maden 6-2, 6-1. He then knocked off Georgia’s Eric Diaz 3-6, 6-3, 1-0 (11-9) to finish off his weekend.
“(Jeff) wasn’t a real happy camper after he lost his match on Friday, so it was good for him to follow that up with two wins,” said Duvenhage on Offerdahl ending the tournament with two wins. “I think he feels a lot better getting a couple W’s.”
Vanderbilt will be represented at the ITA All-American, which begins Sept. 29 and runs through Oct. 7 in Tulsa, Okla.
Sunday’s Results
Division I Singles Quarterfinals
Gonzales Austin (Vanderbilt) def. Michael Alford (Florida) 6-3, 3-6, 7-5
Division I Singles Semifinals
(2) Jonas Lutjen (Ole Miss) def. Gonzales Austin (Vanderbilt) 6-2, 6-1
Division I Singles Consolation
First Round
Jeff Offerdahl (Vanderbilt) def. Dominique Maden (Clemson) 6-2, 6-1
Second Round
Jeff Offerdahl (Vanderbilt) def. Eric Diaz (Georgia) 3-6, 6-3, 1-0(11-9)
Division I Doubles Round of 16
(3) Gonzales Austin/Ryan Lipman (Vanderbilt) def. Victor Dias/Joao Pagan (Mercer) 8-6
Hernus Pieters/KU Singh (Georgia) def. Rhys Johnson/Jeff Offerdahl (Vanderbilt) 8-3
Division I Doubles Quarterfinals
Dominique Maden/Yannick Maden (Clemson) def. (3) Gonzales Austin/Ryan Lipman (Vanderbilt) w/o
Division II Doubles Round of 16
Grayson Mills/Rafael Berghaus (Presbyterian) def. Michael Retta/Kris Yee (Vanderbilt) 8-3
