Vanderbilt Men’s Tennis (8-2) hosted a doubleheader Feb. 15 against Lipscomb and Michigan State. The ’Dores completed a gritty comeback win over Michigan State before cruising to a 7-0 victory over Lipscomb. The pair of wins extended Vanderbilt’s home win streak to 10 — a streak that dates back to last season — while also marking its first win over Michigan State since 2019. 

Michigan State 

The Commodores opened the day on their heels, dropping the doubles point. At the No. 1 doubles spot, Pablo Martinez Gomez and Hoyoung Roh fell to the No. 21-ranked pair Taym Alazmeh and Danial Rakhmatullayev, 6-3. Then, Danil Panarin and Jack Satterfield fell to Mitchell Sheldon and Aristotelis Thanos, 6-4, in the No. 3 doubles spot. This match gave  the Spartans the doubles point and an early 1-0 lead while leaving the No. 2 doubles match with Hugo Coquelin and Nathan Cox unfinished.  

The Black and Gold came back swinging in singles play, though, completing a statement comeback, 4-1 win. The score was quickly tied up when Roh defeated Thanos through retirement by the Spartan, 6-3, 2-0. Cox gave the ’Dores a lead when he defeated David Saye in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3. With the lead in hand, Vanderbilt didn’t look back: first-year Satterfield downed Sheldon 6-3, 7-5, and Panarin delivered the final blow and game-clinching point for the ’Dores in another straight-set win.  

“I liked how our team responded from losing the doubles point,” head coach Scott Brown said. “This team has shown its ability to bounce back and be resilient. And that’s what our guys did in singles today — I was very proud of how they stepped up.” 

Lipscomb 

Riding high off momentum from the Michigan State match, the Commodores cruised to a 7-0 victory over the Bisons. Vanderbilt’s doubles pair Cox and Roh fell to Lipscomb’s Facundo Perlov and Alexander Vlahos, 7-5. The Commodores bounced back to claim the doubles point when Martinez Gomez and Panarin downed Henrique Ushizima and Filippo Verdese, 6-4, followed by Coquelin and Satterfield’s 6-4 win over Oskar Szymczak and Oliver Thoeny. 

The Black and Gold, went perfect in singles play, with all six matches ending in straight set wins. First up at the No. 1 singles spot was Cox, who quickly disposed of Perlov, 6-0, 6-2. Next was Satterfield, who narrowly escaped Verdese 7-6(5) in the first set before cruising to a 6-1 second set victory. First years Hwang Donghyun and Cayden Wang collected their second singles wins of the dual-match season with Donghyun defeating Vlahos 6-4, 6-3, while Wang downed Szymczak 6-1, 7-6(4). Callum Markowitz and Brunetti finished the ’Dores’ day when they defeated Ushizima and Thoeny in straight sets, respectively.  

With the nonconference dual matches complete, the Commodores will switch to conference play in the SEC on outdoor courts. 

“Nothing changes week-to-week in terms of the mindset — you have to take the same approach,” Brown said. “You can’t amplify one match over another; the process has to stay the same. And that’s where victories came from.” 

Vanderbilt will open SEC play by traveling to Mississippi State in Starkville. The two teams will play Feb. 21, at 1 p.m. CST.