Men's Tennis Steamrolls by No. 39-Ranked Indiana, 7-0 2/22/03
Commodores now begin preparation for SEC home openers

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Vanderbilt men's tennis team gave head coach Ken Flach his best start since taking over the reigns in 1997, as the Commodores moved their dual-match record to 7-1 with a 7-0 victory over No. 39-ranked Indiana on Saturday afternoon at the Brownlee O. Currey Tennis Center. With the win, the Commodores also ended the Hoosiers undefeated streak, as IU falls to 8-1 on the season.

Vanderbilt earned its eighth-consecutive doubles point; however, it did not come without a challenge. Junior Chad Harris and sophomore Scott Brown got things going at the No. 2 position, as they defeated Viktor Libal and Petr Novotny, 8-4. Since Flach paired Harris and Brown up back at the SEC Indoor Championship, the duo is now 10-1.

Indiana was able to pick up a win at the No. 3 doubles spot, as John Stone and Jakub Praibis defeated Vanderbilt juniors Zach Dailey and Jens Pilgram-Larsen, 8-5. With the doubles competition tied at 1-1, that meant juniors Bobby Reynolds and Lewie Smith would have to win at the No. 1 position. Despite trailing early on in the match, Reynolds and Smith were able to squeak out a 8-6 win over Zach Held and Ryan Recht to give the Commodores the doubles point.

The singles portion of the match was exactly the opposite of the doubles, as the Commodores had no problems in winning all six matches in straight sets. Reynolds extended his winning streak to 15, as he cruised by Libal, 6-1, 6-2 at the No. 1 spot. With the win, he now stands at 25-5 in singles competition this year.

Harris also picked up another quality win, as he defeated Praibis, 6-3, 6-2. With Saturday's victory, Harris has now won 20 singles matches this year. Sophomore Matt Lockin won his third consecutive dual match, as he blew by Novotny, 6-2, 6-1.

Dailey, Brown and Smith gave up only 13 games in their six sets of tennis at the No. 4-6 positions, respectively. These three are a combined 18-3 during the 2003 dual-match season.

The Commodores will now begin preparation for their Southeastern Conference home openers against No. 20-ranked Georgia and No. 25-ranked Tennessee. Vanderbilt will take on Georgia at 2 p.m. (CST) Friday, and Tennessee at 12 p.m. Sunday. Both matches will be held at the Brownlee O. Currey Tennis Center and admission to both matches are free.

Singles

Doubles