MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Middle Tennessee ended an eight-match losing streak on Wednesday, as the 31st-ranked Blue Raiders won the doubles point and the first four completed singles matches en route to a 6-1 victory over Vanderbilt at the Brownlee O. Currey, Jr., Tennis Center. The Blue Raiders (12-6) had not beaten the Commodores since 1997 and gave head coach Dale Short just his fourth career win against Vanderbilt. Middle Tennessee has won six of its last seven matches overall and won for the first time all season on the road.
In doubles the Blue Raiders won the first two completed matches to take the first point of the dual.
Marco Born and Andreas Siljestrom, ranked fifth nationally, defeated No. 40 Evan Dufaux and Andy Mack, 8-2, at No. 1 before Greg Pollack and Morgan Richard took care of Nik Cromydas and Jordan Magarik, 8-5, at No. 3. Vandy's Nathan Sachs and Ryan Preson defeated Brandon Allan and Kai Schledorn, 7-6 (5), at No. 2.
Middle Tennessee jumped out quickly in singles, as well, winning the first set in five of the six matches, including one in a tiebreaker.
Siljestrom, ranked 74th in singles, was the first off the court, defeating 42nd-ranked Preston, 6-1, 6-4, at No. 1. Allan then won 7-5, 6-4, over Sachs at No. 4, and Born clinched the team victory with a 6-4, 7-6, triumph over Dufaux at No. 2.
Pollack came from behind to win a tiebreaker in the first set, 7-5, and won the second set, 6-3, for a 5-0 Blue Raider lead.
The teams split the final two matches, both in super-tiebreakers.
Cromydas defeated Richard at No. 5, 4-6, 6-4, 10-6, and Middle Tennessee's Schledorn won 7-5, 3-6, 10-6, at No. 3 over Mack.
Short was very pleased with his team's effort and glad to finally get a win against a close rival who has been a nemesis for most of Short's coaching career.
"It's good to come up with a W, especially after losing eight years in a row to Vandy," Short said. "Looking back we've been the favorite going into at least five of those matches, but somehow we've had this stigma with Vanderbilt and it's hard to swallow.
"But now the monkey's off our back. We pretty much dominated and it's our first road win of the year. We needed to win a competitive match on someone else's turf. The team's come a long way and we're playing well, probably as well as we've played this year. It's still not what I think we're capable of doing, but if we can get everyone on the right page we'll keep getting better. It was a great team effort."
Middle Tennessee hosts the Sun Belt Shootout this weekend at the Buck Bouldin Tennis Center. The field includes 37th-ranked South Alabama and No. 41 Louisiana-Lafayette, who square off at 9:30 a.m. Saturday. The Blue Raiders take on Arkansas-Little Rock Saturday at 1:30 p.m. The losers of the two matches meet Sunday at 9:30 a.m., and the winners square off Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
#31 Middle Tennessee 6, #63 Vanderbilt 1
SINGLES
1. (74) Andreas Siljestrom (MT) def. (42) Ryan Preston (VU), 6-1, 6-4
2. Marco Born (MT) def. Evan Dufaux (VU), 6-4, 7-6 (5)
3. Kai Schledorn (MT) def. Andy Mack (VU), 7-5, 3-6, 10-6
4. Brandon Allan (MT) def. Nathan Sachs (VU), 7-5, 6-4
5. Nik Cromydas (VU) def. Morgan Richard (MT), 4-6, 6-4, 10-6
6. Greg Pollack (MT) def. Jordan Magarik (VU), 7-6 (5), 6-3
Order of Finish: 1,4,2,6,5,3
DOUBLES
1. (5) Born-Siljestrom (MT) def. (40) Dufaux-Mack (VU), 8-2
2. Preston-Sachs (VU) def. Allan-Schledorn (MT), 7-6 (5)
3. Richard-Pollack (MT) def. Cromydas-Magarik (VU), 8-5
Order of Finish: 1,3,2
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