NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The 23rd-ranked Vanderbilt men’s tennis team rallied after dropping the doubles point, but came up just short against No. 21 Mississippi State, 4-3, Sunday at the Currey Tennis Center. Due to weather the match was played indoors.
Vanderbilt (11-5, 2-3 SEC) suffers its third-straight loss and falls below .500 in conference play, while Mississippi State (13-7, 3-3 SEC) snaps a four-match losing streak.
In doubles top-ranked Gonzales Austin and Ryan Lipman took care of business yet again, taking down No. 40 Malte Stropp and Jordan Angus. The difference maker in the match came in the ninth game when Austin and Lipman earned the lone break of the match. The duo went on to hold on the next three serves and take the match.
At two and three doubles the Commodores struggled early, but were able to fight back and make it a very contested point.
At No. 2 Ryan Smith and Anton Kovrigin partnered together for the first time this season and fell behind 3-0 early in the match. The duo stuck it out and when facing match point trailing 5-7, they earned their first break of the match to get back on serve. MSU’s Florian Lakat and Tassilo Schmid earned the break in the final game to take the match.
A three doubles Pen Binet and Suresh Eswaran were down 0-5 before winning seven of the next nine games to force a tiebreak at 7-all. In the breaker the Vandy duo fell 7-3, and the Bulldogs took the doubles point.
Despite dropping the doubles point the Commodores came out in singles with a lot of momentum after its improbable comeback at No. 3 doubles.
The `Dores won four first sets and were able to take the first three singles matches.
Kris Yee at No. 3 singles knotted things up at one with a quick 6-1, 6-1 win over Zach White.
No. 16 Austin put the `Dores on top shortly after with a 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 1 over 91st-ranked Stropp.
Nashville native Lipman put Vanderbilt up 3-1 after a hard fought win at No. 2 over 69th-ranked Florian Lakat. After winning 6-4 in the first set, No. 102 Lipman fell behind 0-5 in the second set. Lipman worked it back to 5-all and then forced a tiebreak serving at 5-6. In the breaker the Vandy senior came out on top 8-6.
With the match within reach for VU, Mississippi State earned a win at No. 4 singles to gain some momentum for the final two matches.
At No. 4, Kovrigin won 6-3 in the first set before falling 3-6 in the second. In the third set MSU’s Angus earned back-to-back breaks to take the match and cut Vandy’s lead to 3-2.
State then went on to pick up wins at No. 5 and No. 6 to take the match 4-3.
Vanderbilt will host in-state rival Tennessee on Friday at 6 p.m. and will travel to Athens to face the University of Georgia on Sunday.
#21 Mississippi State 4, #23 Vanderbilt 3
Singles competition
1. #16 Gonzales Austin (VU) def. #91 Malte Stropp (MSU) 6-2, 6-3
2. #102 Ryan Lipman (VU) def. #69 Florian Lakat (MSU) 6-4, 7-6 (8-6)
3. Kris Yee (VU) def. Zach White (MSU) 6-1, 6-1
4. Jordan Angus (MSU) def. Anton Kovrigin (VU) 3-6, 6-3, 6-3
5. Rishab Agarwal (MSU) def. Jeffrey Offerdahl (VU) 7-6 (8-6), 1-6, 7-5
6. Tassilo Schmid (MSU) def. Ryan Smith (VU) 7-5, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. #1 Gonzales Austin/Ryan Lipman (VU) def. #40 Jordan Angus/Malte Stropp (MSU) 8-6
2. Florian Lakat/Tassilo Schmid (MSU) def. Anton Kovrigin/Ryan Smith (VU) 8-6
3. Rishab Agarwal/Zach White (MSU) def. Suresh Eswaran/Pen Binet (VU) 8-7 (7-3)
Match Notes:
Mississippi State 13-7, 3-3 SEC; National ranking #21
Vanderbilt 11-5, 2-3 SEC; National ranking #23
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (3,1,2,4,5,6)
