NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Joubert Klopper grabbed a victory against Tennessee’s Shunsuke Mitsui in singles, but it was not enough—Vanderbilt men’s tennis fell to the Volunteers 6-1 at the Ensworth Tennis Facility on Sunday.
“Today we were right there with the No. 9 team in the country for 2 hours and 15 minutes,” said head coach Scott Brown. “We proved that we can hang with them, tennis-wise, for that amount of time and beyond.”
The Commodores (11-8, 2-5 SEC) held on in doubles. Danil Panarin and Hugo Coquelin picked up a 6-4 victory against Filip Apltauer and Younes Lalami on Court 3, after No. 54 Klopper and Michael Ross dropped the first match to No. 7, Angel Diaz and Johannus Monday. The decision was left up to Jeremie Casabon and Nathan Cox, who fell in a tiebreak to No. 20 Mitsui and Filip Pieczonka 7-6 (3).
The Volunteers took back-to-back wins over the Commodores, when Monday, nationally ranked 5th, defeated No. 85 Panarin 6-4, 6-2 on Court 1, and Nicolas Kobelt overcame Ross on Court 4, 7-6 (4), 6-1. Coquelin also fell to his Volunteer opponent on Court 6, and the Volunteers clinched the match. Klopper took the first set and came back from underneath in the second to tally the lone point for Vandy and defeated Mitsui on Court 2. Casabon fell to No. 109 Pieczonka, and Cox went to three against Chris Li but ultimately fell in the third set, sealing the Volunteer victory at 6-1.
“We will use this as motivation to keep pushing and work on mentally extending this clock, because we were close to making that match very interesting,” said Brown. “We win and we learn, and now we learn from this, move on and prepare for the Aggies on Friday in College Station. I’m proud of this group.”
Singles
1. #5 Monday (Tennessee) def. #85 Panarin 6-4, 6-2
2. Klopper (Vanderbilt) def. #40 Mitsui 6-3, 6-4
3. Li (Tennessee) def. Cox 7-6 (7), 4-6, 1-0 (8)
4. Kobelt (Tennessee) def. Ross 7-6 (4), 6-1
5. #109 Pieczonka (Tennessee) def. Casabon 7-6 (3), 6-3
6. Diaz (Tennessee) def. Coquelin 7-5, 6-3
Doubles
1. #5 Diaz/Monday (Tennessee) def. #54 Klopper/Ross 6-2
2. Mitsui/Pieczonka (Tennessee) def. Casabon/Cox 7-6 (3)
3. Panarin/Coquelin (Vanderbilt) def. Apltauer/Lalami 6-4
Up Next: Next weekend Vanderbilt is on the road, traveling to College Station to take on Texas A&M on Friday and returning to Murfreesboro to compete against Middle Tennessee on Tuesday.
