The Lipscomb men’s tennis team was defeated 4-0 by Vanderbilt Friday evening at the Vanderbilt University Currey Tennis Center.
It was the quickest loss Lipscomb (4-5) has had this season. The match lasted less than two hours.
“I would never use it as an excuse, but I don’t think we were the most healthy [tonight],” Lipscomb’s head coach Geoff Hernandez said. “But I’m pretty pleased with what the guys brought in preparation for St. John’s (Saturday’s match).”
The Bisons started the night down 1-0 when they lost the doubles point to the Commodores.
In line two, Lipscomb’s Jorge Ortegon and Pedro Uribe were first to lose their set 6-1 to Vanderbilt’s Adam Sraberg and Christiaan Worst.
In line three, Lipscomb’s Jake Penny and Michael Tougher lost 6-2 to George Harwell and Marcus Ferreira, leaving the No. 1 doubles match unfinished between Lipscomb’s Victor Chaw and Pablo Caffarena and Vanderbilt’s Cameron Klinger and Billy Rowe.
After the teams moved onto singles play, Lipscomb was never able to get a point against Vanderbilt.
Lipscomb’s Uribe, in line four, lost to Rowe 6-0, 6-4 to set the score at 2-0 in Vanderbilt’s favor.
Next, in line three, Ortegon was defeated 6-2, 6-4 by Vanderbilt’s Macsen Sisam, which put Lipscomb further behind at 3-0.
Caffarena, the No. 2 player for the Bisons, lost both of his sets 6-3 against Harwell, and the Commodores took the 4-0 victory.
Matches between Lipscomb’s Chaw and Vanderbilt’s Klinger, and Penny against Ferreira were left unfinished.
“Obviously, we came to do our best against Vanderbilt,” said Hernandez. “But we’ve had a bunch of guys sick and some injuries. I’m still positive going into the next one.
“Vanderbilt’s just a great team. We don’t expect anything but that kind of level from a Top-25 team. As far as moving forward, we just have to try to recreate the kind of intensity we brought today and use that in the future.”
Lipscomb will play at home against St. John’s on Saturday, Feb. 23 at 5 p.m.
Photo by Russell Vannozzi