Vanderbilt University Team Page
NASHVILLE – Vanderbilt will be making its 12th appearance in the NCAA Tournament with a first round match versus East Tennessee State in Nashville at the Currey Tennis Center Friday, May 10.
The Commodores enter as the No. 16 overall seed and will host a regional for the first time since 2003. The winner of Vanderbilt and East Tennessee State will play the winner of Illinois and Georgia State on Saturday, May 11, at the Currey Tennis Center. Times have not been announced for any of the matches.
“We’re thrilled to host,” said Vanderbilt head coach Ian Duvenhage. “It was one of our goals that the team set at the beginning of the year, so they have accomplished that and I’m very proud of them. East Tennessee State is a good team and we’re going to have to be ready to play.”
Vanderbilt makes its fourth-straight NCAA Tournament appearance under Duvenhage. The Commodores lost in the first round to Notre Dame in last year’s NCAA Tournament.
Duvenhage’s squad enters the field with an overall record of 16-10 and ranked No. 16 in the ITA rankings. The 16 wins are the most since the Commodores also won 16 in 2004. Three of those 16 wins this season came over teams ranked in the top 15 (at No. 13 Mississippi State, at No. 4 Ole Miss, vs. No. 8 Kentucky).
The Commodores are led by redshirt junior Ryan Lipman, who is currently ranked No. 13 in the ITA singles rankings. Lipman leads the team with an overall singles record of 28-10. Sophomore Gonzales Austin is ranked No. 47, as both he and Lipman earned All-SEC First Team honors this season.
Freshman Kris Yee earned SEC All-Freshman Team honors after leading VU with a 19-2 mark in dual play this season. The Las Vegas, Nev., native is 24-5 overall in his first season at Vanderbilt.
East Tennessee State finished the season ranked No. 64 with an overall record of 13-6. The Bucs won the Atlantic Sun Tournament Championship over North Florida. ETSU is led by Rogerio Ribeiro with an overall record of 29-11 this season, including an 8-0 mark in league play.
Illinois will be the No. 2 seed in the Regional with an overall record of 16-10, while Georgia State enters as the No. 3 seed with a record of 15-10.
The winner of the Nashville Regional will advance to the NCAA Championships in Urbana, Ill., hosted by the University of Illinois from May 16-27.
