After suffering a heartbreaking loss to Michigan on Friday, the No. 28 Vanderbilt Commodores stormed back to narrowly defeat North Carolina State 4-3 Sunday afternoon at Currey Tennis Center.
Sophomore Bryant Salcedo clinched the victory at the No. 2 position in three sets (6-4, 5-7, 6-3).
There was a time when it looked like Vanderbilt (2-2) might lose again, but this time to No. 43 North Carolina State (4-4). Even after Vanderbilt's top doubles duo, Adam Baker and Alex Zotov, won 8-6, the other two pairs both succumbed in a tiebreaker. Freshmen Alexander DiValerio and Charlie Jones had been up 5-3 in the tiebreaker before losing, giving NC State the doubles point.
Coach Ian Duvenhage acknowledged that DiValerio and Jones have played very well in general but just got a little nervous.
"I told them after the doubles that if NC State is a better team then us, then fine. If we lose, then I can deal with it," he said. "But it didn't look to me in doubles like they were the better team. If we're the better team then we need to go out there and take care of business."
Fortunately, that is exactly when the Commodores did, albeit not right away. Adam Baker, playing in the No. 4 position, fell behind early but clawed his way back for an emotional three-set victory, which drew a smile from Duvenhage.
"The guy, over Christmas break was out here every day and playing the best of five set matches and he wants it so much," Duvenhage said.
His energy was on display, and his win helped rally the Commodores after Nick Cromydas, playing No. 1, lost in uncharacteristic fashion, 6-1, 6-1.
Meanwhile, Vijay Paul at the No. 3 position quietly dismissed his Wolfpack opponent 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) with an array of topspin shots that kept his opponent on his heels. Next to him, freshman Charlie Jones, playing No. 5, did not give up after losing the first set as he stormed back to take the match 6-7 (5-7), 6-1, 6-3.
But the story of the day had to have been Bryant Salcedo's strong performance against NC State's 124th-ranked Christian Welte. Vanderbilt had the lead at 3-2 but Zotov was behind in the No. 6 position. With tensions high, Salcedo, who was playing No. 2, gave a service return clinic for those in attendance. Few serves got past him and several of his returns were winners.
True to form, Salcedo ended his match on a brilliant forehand crosscourt service return winner that ended the match and gave Vanderbilt the team victory in front of a large home crowd.
"I saw him coming in and thought ǃÚThank God.' That sums it up," Salcedo said of the shot.
Overall, there were definite glimpses of improvement for the Commodores.
"I'm happy where we are. We're young and we've made mistakes," Duvenhage said. "But a 2-2 record is not stellar because it is just .500, but the two wins are over teams that are probably going to be in the top 20 in the country. It's getting there, slowly but surely."
