Singles Work Propels Vanderbilt to Win Against Duke

Saturday, February 13

Nashville, Tenn.

1:00 PM

Duke University

Vanderbilt

Singles Work Propels Vanderbilt to Win Against Duke

2/13/2016 3:54:00 PM | Men's Tennis

By: Duke Sports Information

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – An overwhelming singles performance by No. 27 Vanderbilt lifted the Commodores to a comeback 5-2 victory against No. 25 Duke inside the Currey Tennis Center on Saturday afternoon. The Blue Devils (2-6) captured the doubles point but suffered singles defeats in the first five matches.

The Commodores (4-3) won all five of their singles matches in straight sets. Freshman Ryan Dickerson tallied Duke's singles win, on court six.

Duke got off to a strong start in doubles, capturing the point to snap a five match streak of dropping the doubles point. The Blue Devils switched up their teams and got the desired result, with wins on courts two and three. On court three, senior Daniel McCall and freshman Jason Lapidus secured a 6-3 victory against Daniel Valent and Tate Allwardt. Neither team had more than a one game lead through the first seven as Duke inched out to a 4-3 advantage. The Blue Devils then captured the final two games to win the set. McCall and Lapidus had not played together prior to today's match.

Vanderbilt evened the doubles action on court one, where Rhys Johnson and Cameron Klinger defeated freshmen Vincent Lin and Adrian Chamdani, 6-3. Lin and Chamdani were broken right from the start and trailed 2-0. The Duke duo cut it to one-game deficits at 2-1 and 3-2, but could get no closer. Vanderbilt went ahead 4-2 and then pushed the advantage to 5-2. Duke got one game back before the Commodores closed out the victory. Lin and Chamdani are now 2-2 overall and 0-1 in dual matches.

The point came down to court two with sophomore Nicolas Alvarez and Dickerson playing together for the first time. Alvarez and Dickerson held off a late charge from Baker Newman and Pen Binet for a 6-3 victory. The Blue Devil pair jumped out to a commanding 4-0 lead before Newman and Binet cut the deficit to 4-2. Duke went up 5-2, but Vanderbilt held on to make it 5-3 before Duke finished the match.

The Commodores tied the match at 1-1 overall with a 6-0, 6-2 victory on court four from Klinger against Chamdani. Klinger captured eight consecutive games before Chamdani made the second set 2-1. Klinger then took four of the last five games to win the match. Chamdani, who was playing his first match in the No. 4 position, fell to 10-9 overall and 3-2 in dual matches.

Seconds later, Vanderbilt kept the points coming with its second, from Newman, who topped Lin 6-1, 6-0 on court three. Lin won the second game of the opening set to tie it at 1-1 before Newman ripped off 11 straight games to end the match. Lin dips to 11-11 overall and 3-5 in dual matches.

It was then a 3-1 lead for the Commodores as Alex Ross defeated Levine, 6-2, 6-1, on court five. With the opening set tied 1-1, Ross went on a four game streak to go up 5-1. Levine got a game back before Ross finished the set. In the second set, Ross moved ahead 2-0 before Levine won to make it a 2-1 deficit. From there, Ross took the final four games for the match. Levine drops to 10-9 overall and 3-5 in dual matches.

Vanderbilt tallied its clinching point on court one, where No. 97 Valent defeated No. 17 Alvarez, 6-3, 6-4. In the opening set, Alvarez fell behind 3-0 before winning his first game. The two traded victories for the remainder of the set as Valent closed out for the victory. In the second set, the two were on serve and tied at 3-3 before Valent broke to go up 4-3. He added another win on his service game and the two held on their final two games as Valent took the match. Alvarez falls to 7-9 overall and 3-5 in dual matches. Of Alvarez's 16 matches this year, 13 have been against ranked opponents.

The Commodores registered their fifth point on court two, where Johnson came back to defeat No. 91 freshman Catalin Mateas, 7-5, 6-4. In the opening set, the two were even at points one through three before Mateas edged ahead 4-3. He added another game to go up 5-3 and was within points of winning the opening set before Johnson mounted his comeback. Johnson won the final four games of the first set to seal it and then took the first four games of the second set to go up 4-0. Mateas responded by winning three consecutive games to trail 4-3. The two exchanged victories for the final three games of the set as Johnson was ahead 5-3 and 5-4 before closing out the match. Mateas, playing his first career game as a ranked individual, is now 5-3, all in dual matches.

The match closed on court six, which did not get started until the first four singles matches were concluded. On six, Dickerson defeated Allwardt, 6-3, 6-0. In the opening set, the two were tied 2-2 before Dickerson ran off three straight wins to go up 5-2. Allwardt got one back for a 5-3 deficit before Dickerson clinched the set. Dickerson rolled through the second set and lifted his record to 4-6 overall and 2-1 in dual matches, all at No. 6.

Duke returns home next Saturday, taking on NC A&T at 10 a.m. and then welcoming Charlotte at 3 p.m. If weather permits, the matches will be the first of the year on the outdoor courts of Ambler Tennis Stadium.

#27 Vanderbilt 6, #25 Duke 1
Feb. 13, 2016 at Nashville, Tenn. (Currey Tennis Center)

Doubles competition
1. Rhys Johnson/Cameron Klinger (VU) def. Adrian Chamdani/Vincent Lin (DU) 6-3
2. Ryan Dickerson/Nicolas Alvarez (DU) def. Baker Newman/Pen Binet (VU) 6-3
3. Jason Lapidus/Daniel McCall (DU) def. Daniel Valent/Tate Allwardt (VU) 6-3

Singles competition
1. #97 Daniel Valent (VU) def. #17 Nicolas Alvarez (DU) 6-3, 6-4
2. Rhys Johnson (VU) def. #91 Catalin Mateas (DU) 7-5, 6-4
3. Baker Newman (VU) def. Vincent Lin (DU) 6-1, 6-0
4. Cameron Klinger (VU) def. Adrian Chamdani (DU) 6-0, 6-2
5. Alex Ross (VU) def. Josh Levine (DU) 6-2, 6-1
6. Ryan Dickerson (DU) def. Tate Allwardt (VU) 6-3, 6-0