Vanderbilt sports are off and running (and jumping, swinging and hitting…), and The Hustler Multimedia section has been right there alongside them. Between our staff dodging referees, players and balls alike, take a look at some of our favorite moments they captured.
Soccer
After starting the season undefeated, Vanderbilt soccer lost to LSU in their SEC opener on Sept. 18. The Tigers seized control of the game early, but the Commodores managed to equalize the score to 1-1 at the half.
Vanderbilt showed promise at the beginning of the second half, but LSU fought back, scoring in the 57th minute and winning the game 2-1. “Our kids put out what they could, but in SEC games, you need to have composure and a bit of discipline,” head coach Darren Ambrose said after the game.
The following week, Vanderbilt found that composure and earned their first SEC win of the season against Kentucky. Their defense, which struggled the week prior, remained impenetrable for most of the night, even Vandy cemented a solid two-goal lead at the 50-minute mark. Coming off this win, the ‘Dores sought to keep momentum as faced Missouri on the road on Sept. 25.
Baseball: Smashville edition
The Vanderbilt Commodores and Nashville Predators had a crossover on Sept. 10 that we didn’t know we needed. In the inaugural charity Smashville Showdown, an all-star crew of athletes assembled for a home run derby and softball game.
The two teams (appropriately named Team Smash and Team Ville) had rosters mixed with Predators and VandyBoys alike. They battled for supremacy and drew a sizeable crowd to raise money for the Vandy United Fund, the Predators Foundation and several local charities.
Men’s tennis
Vanderbilt played its first tournament of the season at the newly-renamed Lummis Family Tennis Center the weekend of Sept. 23-25. Three members of the program went undefeated on Friday, carrying the team momentum into a rainy but successful Saturday. First-year Paul Wang defeated Georgia Tech’s Elias Shokry in a gritty 3 sets and later fell to teammate and fellow first-year Mitchell Deames. Marcus Ferreira advanced to his singles bracket final, and the tandem of Michael Ross and Nathan Cox earned a spot in the doubles championship match after a long rain delay.
Junior Jeremie Casabon defeated Justin Schlageter of Oklahoma on Sunday to win the Pete Sampras Draw Consolation Bracket. Casabon joined with Conner Robb-Wilcox to trigger a tiebreaker over a pair from Ole Miss and eventually win the doubles blue bracket. The Commodores return to the court on Oct. 2 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for the ITA All-American Championship.
