Men’s Tennis Continues Surge in ITA Team Rankings 3/26/03
Commodores Preparing for Showdowns with LSU and Tulane

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Vanderbilt men’s tennis team gained its first Intercollegiate Tennis Association Top 10 ranking on Wednesday, as it comes in at No. 8. The Commodores head into this weekend’s matches with No. 20 Louisiana State and No. 27 Tulane boasting a 13-2 overall record and 4-2 mark in the conference. Head coach Ken Flach’s squad now is the third highest ranked team in the SEC, standing behind only No. 2 Florida and No. 5 Ole Miss, who Vanderbilt upset last Sunday.

In the singles rankings, junior Bobby Reynolds (Acworth, Ga.) stayed firm at No. 2, only standing behind Baylor sophomore Benedikt Dorsch. Reynolds will ride a 22 match winning streak into Friday’s match at LSU, where he will take on 38th-ranked Peter Richman. Fellow junior Chad Harris (Aurora, Colo.) climbed up three spots to No. 10, as he carries a 26-8 overall record and a 11-2 dual-match mark into this weekend. Besides the University of Illinois, who has three players in the top ten, Vanderbilt has the second most in the country.

Sophomore Matt Lockin (Lilburn, Ga.) enters Wednesday’s rankings at No. 89, as he dropped 17 positions after going 1-1 last weekend at Mississippi State and Ole Miss. The University of Michigan transfer is currently 18-10 on the year and 8-5 in dual matches while competing at the No. 3 position for the Commodores.

Reynolds and junior Lewie Smith (Memphis, Tenn.) made the biggest move in the doubles poll, as Vanderbilt’s No. 1 team jumped up 29 spots from No. 43 to No. 14. The duo is coming off an 8-5 victory over then 17th-ranked Alex Hartman and Claes Lindholm, who actually moved up to No. 11. Harris and sophomore Scott Brown (St. Louis, Mo.) actually dropped 16 positions to No. 23 despite going 3-0 last week. Harris and Brown have compiled a solid 15-2 mark since joining forces back at the SEC Indoor Championships in January.