University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
#19 Vanderbilt
Vols Tennis Loses 4-1 to No. 19 Vanderbilt
March 19, 2015 | Men's Tennis
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- After winning the doubles point, the Tennessee Volunteers could not turn reverse the momentum in a 4-1 loss to No. 19 Vanderbilt at the Currey Tennis Center.
The Vols (10-8, 2-4 SEC) fell behind 3-1 but had three three-set matches with a chance to rally back.
Freshman Igor Smelyanski rallied back from a break down in the third set but lost 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 to Baker Newman on court 5 as Vanderbilt clinched the victory.
When the match ended, senior Hunter Reese was serving at 2-3 in the third set against Rhys Johnson on court 2, and freshman Luis Valero was up a break 2-0 in the final set against Kris Yee on court 4.
Doubles was highlighted by a high ranking match on court 1 in which second-ranked Mikelis Libietis and Reese defeated top-ranked Gonzales Austin and Johnson 6-2 on court 1. After having seven match points come and go on the remaining two courts, Smelyanski and Andrew Dromsky won 7-5 on court 2 to put the Vols up 1-0.
After doubles, Vanderbilt came out strong across the courts, winning five of six first sets.
The Commodores won matches quickly on courts 3 and 6 to take a 2-1 lead. Mikelis Libietis' career-best 15-match winning streak was snapped when he lost to 10th-ranked Gonzales Austin 6-4, 6-2.
From there, the Vols started turning the momentum. Reese and Smelyanski both forced third sets. Valero was the only Vol to win a first set -- rallying to take it in a tiebreaker -- and also went into a third set after dropping the second to Yee 6-4
Vanderbilt 4, Tennessee 1
Singles
1. #10 Gonzales Austin, VU, def. #14 Mikelis Libietis, UT, 6-4, 6-2
2. Hunter Reese, UT, vs. Rhys Johnson, VU, 5-7, 6-1, 2-3 unf.
3. Danny Valent, VU, def. Jack Schipanski, UT, 6-2, 6-0
4. Luis Valero, UT, vs. Kris Yee, VU, 7-6 (6), 4-6, 2-0
5. Baker Newman, VU, def. Igor Smelyanski, UT, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4
6. Suresh Eswaran, VU, def. Brandon Fickey, UT, 6-1, 6-3
Doubles
1. #2 Reese/Libietis, UT, def. #1 Austin/Johnson, VU, 6-2
2. Dromsky/Smelyanski, UT, def. Newman/Binet, VU, 7-5
3. Schipanski/Valero, UT, vs. Eswaran/Smith, VU, 6-6 unf.
Order of Finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (6,2,1,5).
