NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vanderbilt men’s tennis split their matches on Friday, falling to No. 70 Pepperdine and making a comeback against Lipscomb in the second match of the day.
Pepperdine
The Waves took the early lead, swiftly grabbing the doubles point. Doubles tandem Jeremie Casabon and Nathan Cox gave a heroic effort, ultimately coming up short to Maxi Homberg and Chris Papa. Danil Panarin and Hugo Coquelin dropped their match to the Waves’ pair of Pietro Fellin and Edward Winter, while Joubert Klopper and Michael Ross’ match went unfinished, but the Dores hoped for a comeback.
Coach Scott Brown shared his thoughts on the match, “I want to give credit to Pepperdine. It was a war, they fought hard and they earned that match. We knew they were a better team than what their record showed.”
The Commodores battled in singles play, eventually evening the score with Casabon forcing a third set. Vanderbilt responded quickly, with Panarin on Court 1 narrowly missing the win against No. 34 Winter. Cox took the second win on four courts with Klopper not far behind, both winning in straight sets over their Waves opponents. Coquelin grabbed the third point for the Dores, putting the score at three all. Casabon wouldn’t go away, grabbing the first set and fighting for the second and third, coming up just short while Pepperdine posted a 4-3 victory against Vandy.
“I was proud of how our guys stayed the course, never gave up and kept fighting,” said Brown. “This was our first outdoor match against a team that’s played 6 or 7 matches outside; we knew it wasn’t going to be easy and we might not play our best tennis. We gave ourselves a chance to pull through and it just didn’t go our way today, but that’s life and that’s college tennis for you. At the end of the day it was a testament to this team and our camaraderie.”
Doubles
1. Homberg/Papa (Pepperdine) def. Casabon/Cox 6-3
2. Klopper/Ross (Vanderbilt) vs. inus Carlsson Halldin/George Davis 3-4, unfinished
3. Fellin/Winter (Pepperdine) def. Panarin/Coquelin 6-2
Singles
1. No. 34 Winter (Pepperdine) def. Panarin 6-2, 6-1
2. Klopper (Vanderbilt) def. Fellin 6-2, 7-5
3. Cox (Vanderbilt) def. Papa 6-4, 6-3
4. Halldin (Pepperdine) def. Ross 6-1, 6-3
5. Homberg (Pepperdine) def. Casabon 2-6, 6-3, 6-2
6. Coquelin (Vanderbilt) def. Zach Stephens 6-3, 6-2
Lipscomb
Vanderbilt brought the energy in match No. 2. Dores took the advantage, quickly earning the doubles point. Panarin and Connor Robb-Wilcox led the Commodores, finishing with a 6-4 win on Court 3, with the pair of Casabon/Cox clinching the point with a 7-5 victory.
“After the first match we talked about how this was going to be a test of how strong our culture is… can we reset and start over again? This team’s got a lot of heart and they came out there, and I was really happy with how they put everything behind them and took care of business,” Brown said.
In singles, the Commodores kept the momentum rolling, taking back-to-back courts. Coquelin continued his winning streak, defeating his Bison opponent in straight sets. Cox and Casabon brought in two more straight-set victories, putting the Dores ahead 4-0. Panarin took Court 1 while Alexandre Hillhouse forced a third set, pulling out a win against Facundo Perlov. Robb-Wilcox wrapped up the match in the third set, concluding the fourth doubleheader for the Dores with a 7-0 victory.
Doubles
1. Casabon/Cox (Vanderbilt) def. Sebastian Dominguez/Krzysztof Wetoszka 7-5
2. Ross/Klopper (Vanderbilt) vs. Perlov/Carlos Salas Tulla 6-6 (4-3), unfinished
3. Panarin/Robb-Wilcox (Vanderbilt) vs. Matheus Lima/Henrique Ushizima 6-4
Singles
1. Panarin (Vanderbilt) def. Wetoszka 6-1, 6-2
2. Cox (Vanderbilt) def. Dominguez 6-0, 6-2
3. Casabon (Vanderbilt) def. Ushizima 6-0, 6-0
4. Coquelin (Vanderbilt) def. Lima 6-2, 6-1
5. Hillhouse (Vanderbilt) vs. Perlov 6-2, 6-7 (8-10), 1-0 (10-8)
6. Robb-Wilcox (Vanderbilt) def. Salas Tulla 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 1-0 (12-10)
On Deck: Vanderbilt continues home play next weekend, scheduled to take on Kentucky in the SEC home opener at 1 p.m. on Friday.
