University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
#22 Vanderbilt
Vols Fall To Vandy In Regular Season Finale, 4-3
April 15, 2018 | Men's Tennis
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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- No. 21 Tennessee came up on the short end of a back-and-forth match on Sunday, falling to No. 22 Vanderbilt 4-3 in the regular season finale at Goodfriend Tennis Center.
After earning the doubles point with wins on Court's 2 and 3, the Vols (19-7, 8-4 SEC) were able to come away with just two singles wins. The Commodores (19-7, 8-4 SEC) took matches at No. 1, 2, 3 and 5 to clinch the victory.
Sunday's match was also UT's Senior Day, as during the changeover from doubles to singles, Tennessee recognized the career of Luis Valero. The Cali, Colombia native has compiled over 60 singles wins and over 70 doubles victories, and was a two-time ITA Scholar Athlete during his career in Knoxville.
In the Court 2 doubles match, Timo Stodder and Adam Walton took down the 80th ranked pairing in the nation of Lachlan McPhee and Panu Virtanen. After Valero and Preston Touliatos dropped a top 30 matchup against No. 28 Cameron Klinger and Billy Rowe, the Vols' freshmen duo of Andrew Rogers and Nicaise Muamba capped off a 6-4 victory to give Tennessee the match's first point.
Scott Jones made it 2-0 with a quick 6-3, 6-2 singles win on Court 4, but the Commodores would rattle off four straight wins to claim the match. Muamba earned UT's third point by defeating George Harwell on Court 6 in three sets.
Although UT could not come up with the win on Sunday, head coach Chris Woodruff remains optimistic heading into the postseason.
"We have a lot to play for with the tournament coming up," Woodruff said after the match. "We'll take a couple of days off and this loss will be by us. We'll learn from it. I think there are a couple of things we need to change, but it's going well. We're still fine, and we'll continue to get better."
UP NEXT: The Vols will head down to Tuscaloosa, Ala. for the 2018 SEC Men's Tennis Tournament beginning Wednesday, April 25 and concluding Sunday, April 29. The tournament bracket will be released after all regular season matches have concluded.
#22 Vanderbilt 4, #21 Tennessee 3
Singles
1. #39 Daniel Valent (VU) def. #22 Timo Stodder (UT) 6-4, 6-4
2. #21 Cameron Klinger (VU) def. Luis Valero (UT) 7-5, 6-4
3. Baker Newman (VU) def. #112 Adam Walton (UT) 6-4, 6-4
4. Scott Jones (UT) def. Billy Rowe (VU) 6-3, 6-2
5. Maxwell Freeman (VU) def. Preston Touliatos (UT) 6-2, 7-6 (9-7)
6. Nicaise Muamba (UT) def. George Harwell (VU) 5-7, 6-1, 6-1
Doubles
1. #28 Klinger/Rowe (VU) def. #24 Touliatos/Valero (UT) 6-3
2. Stodder/Walton (UT) def. #80 McPhee/Virtanen (VU) 6-2
3. Rogers/Muamba (UT) def. Harwell/Valent (VU) 6-4
Order of Finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (4,1,3,2,5,6)
Players Mentioned
