Arkansas drops road match at No. 17 Vanderbilt

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Arkansas wraps up its two-match road weekend in Nashville on Sunday, falling on the road to No. 17 Vanderbilt, 6-1.

The Razorbacks drop to 8-7 overall this season and 1-3 in Southeastern Conference action.

Arkansas dropped the doubles point with losses on courts one and three. Vanderbilt’s Daniel Valent and Baker Newman defeated Alex Reco and Pedro Alonso 6-3 to give the Commodores the advantage, before No. 57 Billy Rowe and Cameron Klinger knocked off Josh Howard-Tripp and Jose Salazar 6-4 at the top doubles spot to clinch the point. Oscar Mesquida and Adam Sanjurjo were leading No. 75 Panu Virtanen and Lachlan McPhee 5-4 at the clinch.

In singles, Vanderbilt extended its lead quickly. No. 57 Klinger defeated Howard-Tripp 6-1, 6-1 to take a 2-0 lead, as Rowe won over Reco 6-2, 6-2 to extend it to 3-0. P. Alonso would fall 6-0, 7-6 to Maxwell Freeman to give the Commodores the 4-0 advantage and the win. Mesquida was the first Razorback to win a set over a Commodore, as the junior won the second set 6-4, after falling 6-0 in the first set. Mesquida would fall to Newman in the third-set tiebreaker 10-5 to give Vanderbilt the 5-0 lead.

No. 84 Salazar was the second Razorback to pick up a set victory, taking the second set against No. 79 Valent 6-4, after dropping the first 7-5. Like his teammate Newman, Valent would take the third-set tiebreaker 10-6.

Despite trailing 6-0 in the match, Jose Alonso showed some fight on court six, as the freshman won the first set over George Harwell 7-5, before harwell took the second set 7-5. Alonso would take the court though, winning 10-4 in the third-set tiebreaker.

The Razorbacks return home next Friday to host No. 22 Tennessee, then No. 21 Georgia on Sunday.

No. 17 Vanderbilt 6, Arkansas 1

Singles Results – Order of finish (2,4,5,3,1,6)
1. #79 Daniel Valent (VU) def. #84 Jose Salazar (AR) 7-5, 4-6, 1-0 (10-6)
2. #57 Cameron Klinger (VU) def. Josh Howard-Tripp (AR) 6-1, 6-1
3. Baker Newman (VU) def. Oscar Mesquida (AR) 6-0, 4-6, 1-0 (10-5)
4. Billy Rowe (VU) def. Alex Reco (AR) 6-2, 6-2
5. Maxwell Freeman (VU) def. Pedro Alonso (AR) 6-0, 7-6 (7-3)
6. Jose Alonso (AR) def. George Harwell (VU) 7-5, 5-7, 1-0 (10-4)

 Doubles Results – Order of finish (3,1)
1. #57 Billy Rowe/Cameron Klinger (VU) def. Josh Howard-Tripp/Jose Salazar (AR) 6-4
2. #75 Panu Virtanen/Lachlan McPhee (VU) vs. Oscar Mesquida/Adam Sanjurjo (AR) 4-5, unfinished
3. Daniel Valent/Baker Newman (VU) def. Alex Reco/Pedro Alonso (AR) 6-3