Vanderbilt men’s tennis continued its early success this spring season, with victories over Virginia Tech and The Citadel last Sunday afternoon. The Commodores won in a close 4-3 match against Virginia Tech to start the day before winning in blowout fashion against The Citadel, 7-0. The two victories extended the Commodores’ win streak to four, as they remained unbeaten in the spring season.
“We talked before the match about giving ourselves some freedom and being relaxed at the start to facilitate us playing our best,” head coach Ian Duvenhage said. “I thought that we competed really well and that our attitudes were great—the guys were really positive out there.”
Vanderbilt began the afternoon with a hard-fought victory over Virginia Tech. Junior Siim Troost and freshman Michael Ross set the tone early, as they won on the first doubles court, 6-4, over the No. 21-ranked doubles tandem of Jordan Chrysostom and Ryan Fishback. Graduate students George Harwell and Max Freeman secured the doubles point for the Commodores, also winning 6-4 on Court 2.
With the doubles point in hand, the Commodores turned their attention to the singles courts. The Hokies grabbed the first point on the singles courts as Jeremie Casabon fell 6-2, 6-0 to Virginia Tech’s Alberto Orso. The Commodoreswrestled back control of the match, though, with consecutive victories by Marcus Ferreira and Freeman. Freeman had an excellent weekend, coming out on top in his doubles match and both of his singles matches.
“We know what Max [Freeman] is going to do: he’s going to compete very hard and keep trying,” Duvenhage said. “When he’s gotten into trouble it’s because of some inconsistency, and he hasn’t quite played as well yet as he did last fall, but I’m confident he’s going to get better and better.”
Needing just one more point to clinch the victory against Virginia Tech, the Commodores looked to No. 94-ranked Joubert Klopper, who faced the Hokies’ Alvaro Ariza on Court 2. Klopper and Ariza started the first set in a deadlock, trading points and eventually pushing the match to a decisive tiebreaker. Klopper came out strong, winning the tiebreak 7-2 to win the first set. Klopper carried this momentum into the second set, winning 6-4 and giving the Commodores the victory over the Hokies.
Following a short break in action and with a victory already in hand, Vanderbilt returned to the courts at the Currey Tennis Center to take on The Citadel, which entered the match with a record of just 1-6 on the season.
The Commodores took care of business, earning the doubles point in quick fashion, as the duo of Casabon and Macsen Sisam won their match 6-0, and Ferreira and Klopper came out on top, 6-2. Troost and Ross also won their match comfortably (6-2), though the doubles point had already been clinched.
With the doubles point secured, the Commodores also defeated The Citadel in the singles matches, winning all six comfortably. Freeman started things off with a victory in straight sets (6-0, 6-2) to give the Commodores a 2-0 lead. Sisam then claimed a victory in straight sets on Court 4 before Troost clinched the Commodores second victory of the day with an impressive 6-0, 6-2 victory.
After the Commodores had clinched the victory, George Harwell, Klopper and Ross all finished and won their respective matches to give Vanderbilt the 7-0 sweep.
“We just have to keep plugging away,” Duvenhage said. “Every guy is working on some things that will help us play better – we just have to keep doing the work.”
After starting the season 4-0, the Commodores will face off against Belmont and Tennessee State in another doubleheader on Friday afternoon.
