Over the weekend of Feb. 15, the Vanderbilt Commodores Men’s Tennis team hosted FAU, Oklahoma State and Belmont to conclude its three week home match stint. 

Saturday, Feb. 18

Vanderbilt vs. FAU (6-7) 

The Commodores kicked off their weekend of competition on Saturday against FAU. Prior to this meeting, each team had only competed against each other once — in 2007 — when Vanderbilt edged the Owls 4-3. However, FAU came out on top this time around, defeating the Commodores 4-1. 

After dropping the first doubles match, Vanderbilt battled back, with Joubert Klopper and Macsen Sisam securing their fourth straight doubles victory and tying the score at 1-1. The tie forced the third doubles match to commence, in which Siim Trost and Paul Wang fell to the Owls duo of Huempfner and Robbins 7-3. 

The Owls rode the wind of their doubles victories by grabbing the first singles point. However, freshman Nathan Cox helped the Commodores tie it back up with his two set sweep (6-4 and 6-3). The Owls then went on to secure two more points to clinch the victory. At the conclusion of the day, head coach Ian Duvenhage reflected on his team’s performance.

“We had a tough day, but we have to keep our heads up, keep competing hard and continue to work to get better,” Duvenhague said. 

The final results for the match between the Commodores and the Owls were as follows:

Singles

Kevin Huempfner (FAU) def. Klopper 6-4, 7-6 (7-4)

Cox (Vanderbilt) def. Alberto Colas 6-4, 6-3

Filip Krolo (FAU) def. Michael Toss 6-4, 6-3

Joao Graca (FAU) def. Troost 6-3, 6-2

Sisam (Vanderbilt) vs. Alvaro Fernandez Horta 6-3, 3-6, 4-3 unfinished

Mitchell Deames (Vanderbilt) vs. Hunter Robbins 3-3 unfinished

Doubles

Huempfner/Hunter Robbins (FAU) def. Troost/ Wang 7-6 (7-3)

Krolo/ Garca (FAU) def. Cox/Michael Ross 6-3

Sisam/ Klopper (Vanderbilt) def. Colas/Fernandez Horta 7-6 (7-3)

Sunday, Feb. 19

Vanderbilt vs. Oklahoma State (4-3)

On the doubles end, Cox and Ross helped the Commodores take an early lead against the Oklahoma State Cowboys. This performance was followed by Klopper and Sisam extending their winning streak to five-straight. 

In singles play, Cox and Sisam both picked up points for the Commodores. However, the Cowboys won three singles points of their own to tie up the overall score. The deciding match occurred on court 4 where Trost battled back after being one set down to force the tie-breaking third set. He ultimately fell just short by a score of 8-6. 

The scores between the Commodores and Owls were as follows:

Singles

Tyler Zink (OSU) def. Kloper 3-5, 6-4, 6-2

Cox (Vanderbilt) def. Chase Ferguson 6-3, 6-1

Isaac Becroft (OSU) def. Ross 6-3, 1-6, 6-4

Alex Garcia (OSU) def. Troost 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (8-6)

Sisam (Vanderbilt) def. Francisco Pini 6-2, 6-3

Alessio Basile (OSU) def. Mitchell Deamers 6-4, 6-2

Doubles

Becroft/Zink (OSU) def. Troost/Paul Wang 6-3

Cox/Ross (Vanderbilt) def. Garcia/Ferguson 6-2

Klopper/Sisam (Vanderbilt) def. Badile/Pini 7-6 (7-3)

Vanderbilt vs. Belmont (6-1)

Despite falling just short against the Cowboys earlier in the day, the Commodores were able to bounce back and secure a 6-1 win against city-rival Belmont. 

Starting with doubles matches, Klopper and Sisam improved their win streak to six-straight while Cox and Ross secured their second win in a row as well. On the singles side, Klopper, Deames, Ross and Troost each tallied two set wins. 

Following this team win, the Commodores improved to a 13-0 record against Belmont. 

The scores between the Commodores and Bruins were as follows:

Singles

Klopper (Vanderbilt) def. Marco Ilic 6-4, 6-4

Cox (Vanderbilt) def. Alfred Wallin 6-4, 1-6, 6-2

Ross (Vanderbilt) def. Tomas Luis 6-1, 6-1

Troost (Vanderbilt) def. Ian Cruz 6-3, 6-3

Riccardo Trione (Belmont) def. Sisam 2-6, 6-3, 6-4

Deames (Vanderbilt) def. Gabriel Sardo 7-5 (7-4), 6-3

Doubles

Troost/Wang (Vanderbilt) vs. Trione/Ilic 5-4, unfinished

Cox/Ross (Vanderbilt) def. Wallin/Randall 6-4

Klopper/Sisam (Vanderbilt) def. Luis/Cruz 6-4

Overall, head coach Ian Duvenhage was excited about his player’s wins but unsatisfied with his team’s overall performance on the day.

“That was two really good matches today. It’s a shame we lost to Oklahoma State… We had them on the ropes,” Duvenhage said after the day. “We were up a set and the break. Just couldn’t close them out. That’s been our problem: We’re getting ahead but we’re not putting people away. Hopefully, we can solve that and go from there” 

Up next:

The men’s tennis team hits the road this weekend to conclude non-conference play. The Commodores will face off against the Northwestern Wildcats on Sunday, Feb. 26 at 11 a.m. CST.