This past weekend, the Vanderbilt Commodores (14-8, 2-7 SEC) were defeated, 6-1, by both No. 10 South Carolina (18-5, 7-2) and No. 1 Florida (17-2, 9-0) on a difficult road swing. In both matches, junior Siim Troost secured the lone point for the Commodores, improving his dual record to 13-5 and conference record to 7-2 on the season.
Head coach Ian Duvenhage reflected on his team’s match against South Carolina on Friday, April 1, noting that the Gamecocks brought a significant amount of talent and experience to the table.
“South Carolina deserves credit for never allowing us to sink our teeth into the match, enough to make it interesting,” Duvenhage said.
While the Commodores were looking to stay in the win category, they faced two of the best programs in the country this past weekend—both of which are undefeated at home this year, with South Carolina at 14-0 and Florida at 9-0.
After dropping these two conference matches, Vanderbilt slipped into a three-way tie for the 10th spot out of 13 teams in the current SEC standings. Vanderbilt, Arkansas and Ole Miss are all 2-7 in conference play, but the Commodores have the head-to-head over the Razorbacks and have yet to play the Rebels.
The Commodores will return home for their final match of the season at the Currey Tennis Center. They will face the fifth-ranked Tennessee Volunteers (17-5, 5-3) at 12 p.m. CDT on Saturday, April 9. Vanderbilt will look to defeat its in-state rival for the first time since 2018, a year in which the Commodores were 19-9 overall, 7-5 in conference play and advanced to the round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament.
Before the first serve on Saturday, Vanderbilt seniors Max Freeman, George Harwell and Macsen Sisam will be honored with pre-match celebrations as part of the team’s Senior Day. Each of the three players honored have had decorated careers.
Freeman, a fifth-year, has notched three doubles points this season, while Sisam is off to a 13-4 overall singles record and a 6-1 mark in dual match play so far. Harwell, another fifth-year, has posted a 99-63 singles record throughout his time at Vanderbilt, was elected to the 2021 All-SEC Second Team and has attained a singles ranking as high as No. 26 in the country during the week of Feb. 9.
After their final home match, the Commodores will get back on the road, traveling to Starkville and Oxford, Mississippi on April 15 and 17 to face Mississippi State and Ole Miss. They will look to reverse recent trends against these two conference foes, as they have not defeated the Bulldogs since 2019 and the Rebels since 2018.
Vanderbilt has its eyes on positioning for the upcoming SEC Tournament held from April 20-24. The Commodores currently sit in 10th place in the conference but can move up to as high as eighth with strong play down the stretch in its final three matches against Tennessee, Mississippi State and Ole Miss.
