NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The No. 14 Vanderbilt Commodores had a very successful Sunday on the outdoor courts of the Currey Tennis Center. VU swept both of its doubleheader matches, taking down the No. 35 Auburn Tigers 4-0, and the Ball State Cardinals 7-0. With the pair of wins, Vandy now owns a 13-3 overall record and 3-1 SEC slate.
“It was just a great weekend for us,” said head coach Ian Duvenhage. “Florida is No. 11, Auburn is No. 35… We thought Auburn was better than 35 and expected the match to potentially go 4-3, and to beat them 4-0… In the three matches that we abandoned we were up a set in each. To win all of our first sets was terrific. I thought we did a good job in doubles, but we didn’t play particularly well. It was our first outdoor match of the season and we’ve only had three days of practice outside in the last three months so we didn’t play that well, but we found a way to win the doubles point, which I thought was huge. It was just a great weekend for us. This is something we can build from, because we can still get a lot better.”
VU clinched the double point against the Tigers with wins at one and two doubles.
Daniel Valent and Suresh Eswaran suffered their first loss of conference play, breaking the teams five-match win streak. AU’s Lukas Ollert/Joseph Van Dooren came out on top; 6-1. No. 1 Rhys Johnson and Gonzales Austin continued their trend of success as the tandem defeated the Tigers’ Plaskett and Krickovic; 6-4.
On court two; Baker Newman and Pen Binet clinched the doubles point, winning their first dual-season and SEC competition in a 7-5 thriller.
With three additional singles wins on courts three, four, and six the first sweep of the day was complete. In the fourth spot of the Commodore lineup, Kris Yee delivered a dominating performance over Joseph Van Dooren, only allowing his opponent to win one game in his 6-1, 6-0 victory.
Following Yee, two freshmen delivered the final two points to closeout the Commodore victory. Newman continued off his Friday night successes, handing Plaskett a 6-3, 6-1 loss. Valent clinched the first match of the day for the `Dores in a 6-3, 6-1 victory over No. 95 Kovrinovic.
At 3:30 VU took the courts once again to square off against the Ball State Cardinals. Vandy swept doubles with the duo of Ryan Smith and Tate Allwardt garnering their first dual-match win of the season in a 6-1 victory over the Cardinals’ Lucas Andersen and Matt Helm.
With the advantage, Vanderbilt looked to singles play. Senior Jeffrey Offerdahl was the first Commodores to come off the courts, defeating Collin Rigney 6-4, 6-0. Newman took down Jan Jirus in an easy 6-1, 6-1 victory on court four. Valent, playing in the second spot of the Commodore lineup gave Vandy the 4-0 lead as he defeated Ray Leonard; 6-3, 6-2.
No. 9 Austin recorded his 100th career win as a Commodore with his 7-6(5), 6-2 win over Lucas Andersen. With the win the senior wrote himself into the Vanderbilt record books as he now has the most singles wins of any Commodore.
Ryan Smith came away with the win at the No. 6 spot of the VU lineup, defeating Patrick Downs; 7-6, 1-0(8). Kris Yee polished off the Sunday sweep with a 7-5, 6-1 win on court three for the `Dores.
Vanderbilt heads to College Station this Friday to take on the Texas A&M Aggies at 6:00 p.m. CT. On Sunday the `Dores head to Baton Rouge to take on the LSU Tigers at 12:00 p.m. CT.
Results:
No. 14 Vanderbilt 4, No. 35 Auburn 0
Doubles;
1) No. 1 Gonzales Austin/Rhys Johnson (VU) def. Oliver Plaskett/Marko Krickovic (AU); 6-4
2) Baker Newman/Pen Binet (VU) def. Maxime Hinnisdaels/Dante Saleh (AU); 7-5
3) Lukas Ollert/Joseph Van Dooren (AU) def. Suresh Eswaran/Daniel Valent (VU); 6-1
Order of Finish; 3, 1, 2
Singles
1) No. 9 Gonzales Austin (VU) led Lukas Ollert (AU); 6-3, 5-5
2) Rhys Johnson (VU) led No. 117 Maxime Hinnisdael (AU); 7-6(2), 3-1
3) Daniel Valent (VU) def. No. 95 Marko Krickovic (AU); 6-3, 6-1
4) Kris Yee (VU) def. Joseph Van Dooren (AU); 6-1, 6-0
5) Suresh Eswaran (VU) led Dante Saleh (AU); 7-5, 3-3
6) Baker Newman (VU) def. Oliver Plaskett (AU); 6-3, 6-1
Order of Finish; 4, 6, 3
No. 14 Vanderbilt 7, Ball State 0
Doubles:
1) No. 1 Gonzales Austin/Rhys Johnson (VU) def. Patrick Elliot/Andrew Stutz (BSU); 6-2
2) Pen Binet/Baker Newman (VU) def. Ray Leonard/Collin Rigney (BSU); 6-3
3) Ryan Smith/Tate Allwardt (VU) def. Lucas Andersen/Matt Helm (BSU); 6-1
Order of Finish; 3, 2, 1
Singles:
1) No. 9 Gonzales Austin (VU) def. Lucas Andersen (BSU); 7-6(5), 6-2
2) Daniel Valent (VU) def. Ray Leonard (BSU); 6-3, 6-2
3) Kris Yee (VU) def. Patrick Elliot (BSU); 7-5, 6-1
4) Baker Newman (VU) def. Jan Jirus (BSU); 6-1, 6-1
5) Jeffrey Offerdahl (VU) def. Collin Rigney (BSU); 6-4, 6-0
6) Ryan Smith (VU) def. Patrick Downs (BSU); 7-6, 1-0(8)
Order of Finish; 5, 4, 2, 1, 6, 3
