No. 44 Vanderbilt hosted No. 39 LSU and No. 38 Georgia this past weekend on Friday, April 12 and Sunday, April 14. The Commodores cruised to a 4-0 victory over the Tigers on Friday, but lost a hard-fought battle 4-2 against Georgia on Sunday.
LSU
Vanderbilt began Friday’s dual match against LSU with its first and only loss of the day. In doubles play, LSU’s Stefan Latinovic/George Stoupe were able to grab a win against No. 85 Joubert Klopper/Michael Ross 6-3. Unfortunately for the Tigers, that was their one win of the day. Vanderbilt’s Hugo Coquelin/Danil Panarin earned a 6-3 win over Welsh Hotard/Aleksi Lofman. Jeremie Casabon/Nathan Cox beat Chen Dong/Julien Penzlin 6-3 as well, securing the doubles point for Vandebilt in a swift comeback.
Friday’s play continued in Vanderbilt’s favor through singles play. Cox got a free win for the Commodores due to LSU’s Stoupe suffering a dislocated shoulder, which forced him to stop playing. Panarin, who is No. 60 in the nation, beat Latinovic 6-2, 6-3 to get a third point for Vanderbilt, and Ross got the fourth point when he knocked down Rudy Ceccon 6-3, 6-2. With that fourth point, Vanderbilt won the dual match 4-0. In the first of three unfinished matches, LSU’s Lofman was up on Klopper 5-7, 3-4. In the other two, Vanderbilt’s Casabon was up on Alessio Vasquez 6-3, 2-2, and LSU’s Dong was up 6-7 (4), 1-1 against Coquelin.
“This was a complete team win from top to bottom and I’d like to recognize Michael Ross with how he competed and carried himself out there today in clinching the match,” head coach Scott Brown said. “Now it’s full focus on Georgia as we close out our regular season on Sunday.”
Georgia
Klopper/Ross represented Vanderbilt against No. 27 Freddy Blaydes/Niels Ratiu to kick off Sunday’s festivities. After sending the match to a tiebreak, Blaydes/Raitu won 9-7. Casabon/Cox upset No. 69 Ryan Colby/Thomas Paulsell 6-4 to even things up for Vanderbilt. However, Georgia’s Miguel Perez Pena and Cyrus Mahjoob defeated Panarin/Coquelin to give Georgia the doubles point.
Coming off of a loss in doubles play, Colby picked up a win for Georgia over Cox, winning the second and third sets 6-4 and 6-3 after dropping the first 3-6. Vanderbilt’s Ross quickly responded by winning consecutive sets against Mahjoob. Coquelin evened things up for Vanderbilt with a win over Blaydes 4-6, 6-3, 6-1.
Casabon pushed Vanderbilt ahead for the first time, beating Perez Pena 7-5, 4-6, 6-4. However, Paulsell quickly evened things up for the Bulldogs, defeating Panarin 5-7, 7-6 (8), 6-2. Despite a late resurgence by Vanderbilt, Ratiu put the nail in the coffin by beating Klopper 7-6 (4), 6-7 (2), 7-5.
This past weekend marked the end of regular season play. The Commodores will now set their sights on the SEC Championships, which will take place from April 17-21 in Baton Rouge, La.
