PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. — Vanderbilt men’s tennis rallied to a 4-3 victory over the University of California, Davis, on Friday afternoon to advance to the NIT Championship finals. Due to player injuries and starters Jeremie Casabon and Siim Troost being ruled ineligible to compete in the tournament per NCAA rules regarding their participation in the NCAA Doubles Championship next week, the top-seeded Commodores entered NIT Championship play with only five available players to field the courts. This has not held Vanderbilt back, however, as the team has now won two-straight matches to secure a spot competing for the NIT Championship title.
“I am so proud of the guys,” head coach Ian Duvenhage said. “We are playing without our top doubles pair and No. 4 and No. 5 singles players. And Mitchell [Deames] is playing on a hurt ankle, but we managed to pull through.”
With only five players competing, the Dores forfeited one of three doubles matches. However, Vandy duos Joubert Klopper and Macsen Sisam as well as, Nathan Cox and Michael Ross both won their matches, necessary for securing the doubles point.
Due to a Vanderbilt walkover, the Aggies picked up a singles point on Court 6, setting the dual match score at 1-1 going into singles play. On Court 5, Andras Necz of UC Davis defeated Commodore freshman Mitchell Deames to give the Aggies a 2-1 lead. Vanderbilt dropped another singles point on Court 1, with Cox falling short to his UC Davis opponent. Trailing 1-3, the Dores had to win each of the three remaining courts to clinch the match.
Vanderbilt sophomore Ross won Court 3 in straight sets to give some momentum back to the Dores. On Court 4, Vandy’s Sisam forced a third set to defeat his Aggies opponent, tying the team score at 3-3. The NIT finals berth ultimately came down to Court 2, where Klopper clinched the Vanderbilt victory.
Doubles
- Ross & Cox (VANDY) def. Mitchell Davis & Necz, 6-2
- Klopper & Sisam (VANDY) def. Ryan Torres & Lucas Bollinger, 6-3
- Sam De Vries & Constantinos Djakouris (UCD) win via walkover
Singles
- Djakouris (UCD) def. Cox, 6-2, 0-6, 6-2
- Klopper (VANDY) def. Torres, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2
- Ross (VANDY) def. De Vries, 7-5, 6-4
- Sisam (VANDY) def. Bollinger, 6-2, 1-6, 6-4
- Necz (UCD) def. Deames, 6-4, 6-2
- Mitchell Davis (UCD) wins via walkover
The Commodores will play the winner of the Liberty/Denver semifinals match for the NIT Championship title tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. CT.