STARKVILLE, Miss. – The Vanderbilt men’s tennis team leaves the Magnolia State with its fourth Top-25 victory of the season, coming in a 4-2 upset over the 23rd ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs. Senior, Kris Yee came through for the Commodores with the clinch.
“I’m really proud of our team”, said head coach Ian Duvenhage. “We needed a big win on the road against a Top-25 opponent and the guys came through with flying colors. We saved match points at No. 1 doubles and No. 1 singles and Kris Yee did a great job to clinch. We have played with a different attitude on the road this year and it’s one I’d like to see us use regardless of where we play in the future.”
Vanderbilt kicked off the contest taking the doubles point with wins on courts two and three. Changing up doubles pairings, the squad found instant success as Baker Newman and Daniel Valent picked up an easy 6-1 victory on three. With both one and two doubles battling, the ‘Dores sealed the paramount point on two as Tate Allwardt and Pen Binet won their second match as a team, 7-5.
In singles the Bulldogs responded to the doubles loss, rebounding to take half of the first set victories and the 2-1 lead. VU fell on courts two and six in straight sets, both by a score of 6-3, 6-1.
Newman, a sophomore out of Miami, leveled the score in the Commodores’ favor by only giving up just one game in his dominate 6-0, 6-1 victory over Niclas Braun on court four. The victory was Newman’s fifth SEC win this season and 41st of his career.
Freshman No. 97 Cameron Klinger earned a huge upset victory over No. 64 Rishab Agarwal on court three, 6-4, 6-3. The victory gave Vanderbilt the upper hand in the SEC showdown, and was the San Jose, Calif. native’s seventh SEC win of his premiere season.
On court five, Yee battled his way through his first set, to come out on top, 6-4. Having dropped several tight matches in a row, the senior pulled out the second set over MSU’s Rakic, 6-4, 6-4, clinching an emotional Commodore victory and breaking a six-match slide. Valent was up 3-1 in his third set on court one when the victory was clinched.
Vanderbilt, 14-12, concludes the regular season on Sunday with a doubleheader in Tuscaloosa, Ala. where the squad plays the Crimson Tide at 1:00 pm CT and Lipscomb around 4:00.
Results:
No. 45 Vanderbilt 4, No. 23 Mississippi State 2
April 15, 2016 – A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre – Starkville, Miss.
Doubles
- No. 43 Mate Cutura/Vaughn Hunter (MSU) vs. No. 15 Rhys Johnson/Cameron Klinger (VU) 6-6(1-2) (susp.)
- Tate Allwardt/Pen Binet (VU) def. Niclas Braun/Trevor Foshey (MSU) 7-5
- Baker Newman/Daniel Valent (VU) def. Strahinja Rakic/Luka Sucevic (MSU) 6-1
Singles
- No. 33 Mate Cutura (MSU) vs. No. 40 Daniel Valent (VU) 6-3, 6-7(1), 1-3 (susp.)
- No. 105 Nuno Borges (MSU) def. Rhys Johnson (VU) 6-3, 6-1
- No. 97 Cameron Klinger (VU) def. No. 64 Rishab Agarwal (MSU) 6-4, 6-3
- Baker Newman (VU) def. Niclas Braun (MSU) 6-0, 6-1
- Kris Yee (VU) def. Strahinja Rakic (MSU) 6-4, 6-4
- Luka Sucevic (MSU) def. Tate Allwardt (VU) 6-3, 6-1
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2) Singles (2,6,4,3,5)
