LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The Commodores wrapped up the weekend in California with a competitive, back-and-forth match against in-state foe Memphis.
With Vanderbilt taking the doubles match on Court 1 and Memphis winning that on Court 2, the doubles point depended on the Court 3 matchup between Commodores Macsen Sisam and Joubert Klopper, and Pablo Alemany and Pau Fanlo of Memphis. After forcing the tiebreak set, the Dores fell short, 5-7. Memphis secured the doubles point.
The Commodores collected several of their own points, however, with Nathan Cox, Michael Ross, and Siim Troost claiming the victory in their respective singles matches. The afternoon’s winner ultimately came down to the third-set tiebreak on Court 4, where Vanderbilt’s Jeremie Casabon fell just shy of Memphis’s Conor Gannon.
“I’m very proud of our team’s attitude and effort today,” head coach Ian Duvenhage said. “But we strive to be great, and great teams find ways to win matches like this. We simply have to get and be better.”
Seeing Double
- Court 1: Commodore pair Troost and Casabon topped Oscar Cutting and David Stevenson of Memphis to secure a 6-3 Vandy doubles victory.
- Court 2: Memphis’s Harry Rock and Gannon took the 6-2 victory over Vanderbilt’s Cox and Ross.
- Court 3: Dore duo Sisam and Klopper forced the tiebreak set but were ultimately unable to outlast Alemany and Fanlo.
Testing Singles
- Commodore sophomore Ross won two straight sets (6-2, 6-3) on Court 3 to give Vanderbilt its first point of the afternoon.
- The Tigers evened the singles points with Fanlo’s straight-set win over Sisam on Court 6.
- Vandy bounced back as freshman Cox downed No. 114 David Stevenson, 6-4, 7-5.
- Court 1 saw back-to-back sets forced to tiebreaks, but Commodore Klopper fell short to No. 39 Alemany, 7-6(1), 7-6(2).
- The Dores tied the score when Troost grabbed a point in the set-three tiebreak victory over Taylor on Court 5 (6-3, 4-6, 7-6(5) ).
- With both teams at three points, the match winner came down to the battle on Court 4. Casabon picked up the first set 6-4 but dropped the second 2-6. His efforts forced a tiebreak in set three, but he was unable to come out on top, falling 7-6(5).
Up Next: Vanderbilt hosts a doubleheader to open home play on Feb. 4. The Commodores will face off against Princeton (11 a.m.) and Tennessee State (3:30 p.m.).