March 3, 2013

Results |  Howell's Photos  | Lipman Interview

NASHVILLE – No. 25 Vanderbilt won its sixth-consecutive match Sunday afternoon after defeating No. 47 Arkansas, 6-1, at the Currey Tennis Center.

The sixth-straight win for Vanderbilt (11-3, 2-0) is tops in the SEC, while Arkansas (11-5, 0-2) has dropped two-straight to begin conference action.

Vanderbilt stormed out of the gates by winning all three matches in doubles to take a 1-0 lead. At No. 1, Ryan Lipman and Marc van der Merwe outlasted Manfred Jeske and Mike Nott, 8-6. The duo is now 2-0 to begin SEC play in the top doubles position.

In the No. 2 spot, Gonzales Austin and Suresh Eswaran won their seventh match as a pair this season after defeating Hall Fess and Santiago Munoz, 8-6. Jeff Offerdahl and Rhys Johnson made for the sweep by taking down Victor Hoang and Christian Lee, 8-4. Offerdahl and Johnson are 6-1 in doubles during dual play this season.

Trailing 5-2 in the first set to Gregoire Lehmann in No. 1 singles, Lipman mounted his comeback. The Nashville, Tenn., native won the next three games to tie the set, 5-5. Lehmann went back up 6-5, before Lipman forced a tiebreak at 6-6. Lipman again trailed early in the tiebreak, 3-0, but didn’t falter as he won the tiebreak, 7-5 and the first set, 7-6.

Lipman then won the second set 6-4 to record his 11^th-straight win in singles play. He is 22-5 on the season overall and 9-1 in the No. 1 position.

Literally within seconds of Lipman’s win at No. 1, Kris Yee won at the No. 5 position to clinch the win for the Commodores. Yee defeated (Victor) Hoang, 7-5, 6-4 en route to his 12-consecutive win. His 13 wins (13-1) in dual play lead the team.

With Offerdahl’s win at No. 4, he is now 2-0 to begin SEC play. The sophomore defeated (Mike) Nott in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1. Austin tacked on another point with his three-set win in the No. 2 spot. The Miami, Fla., native received a tough match from (Manfred) Jeske before recording the win, 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-2.

Anton Kovrigin wrapped up the match with a straight sets victory over (Hall) Fess, 6-4, 6-2.

Arkansas’ lone point of the day came in No. 3 singles where Mike Ward defeated van der Merwe in another three-set battle, 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(3). 

Vanderbilt heads to College Station, Texas, to take on Texas A&M next Friday at 6 p.m. CT for the first of three-straight road matches. The meeting marks the first as SEC members.

Singles Results
1. No. 25 Ryan Lipman (Vanderbilt) def. No. 125 Gregoire Lehmann (Ark) 7-6(5), 6-4
2. No. 41 Gonzales Austin (Vanderbilt) def. Manfred Jeske (Arkansas) 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-2
3. Mike Ward (Arkansas) def. Marc van der Merwe (Vanderbilt) 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(3)
4. Jeff Offerdahl (Vanderbilt) def. Mike Nott (Arkansas) 6-2, 6-1
5. Kris Yee (Vanderbilt) def. Victor Hoang (Arkansas) 7-5, 6-4
6. Anton Kovrigin (Vanderbilt) def. Hall Fess (Arkansas) 6-4, 6-2 

Doubles Results
1. Lipman/van der Merwe (Vanderbilt) def. Jeske/Nott (Arkansas) 8-6
2. Austin/Eswaran (Vanderbilt) def. Fess/Munoz (Arkansas) 8-6
3. Offerdahl/Johnson (Vanderbilt) def. Hoang/Lee (Arkansas) 8-4

Order of Finish
Singles: 4,1,5,2,3,6
Doubles: 2,1,3

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