Lang wins first match as Blue Raider

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Christoph Lang earned a victory in his first match as a Blue Raider, but the Middle Tennessee men’s tennis team fell to No. 37 Vanderbilt, 6-1, in the season-opener on Wednesday. Lang (3-6, 7-5, 6-2) rallied to win the final two sets after falling in the first against Joe Dorn.

MT struggled against the Commodores, dropping four singles matches in straight sets. Dimitri Pippos played a close one against Anton Kovrigin, but fell after Kovrigin came back from an 0-3 deficit in the first set to win 7-6, 6-7 (11-9) in the back-and-forth contest.

In the No. 1 position, Ben Davis fell to 87th ranked Charlie Jones, 6-1, 6-0, while Ettore Zito, Matthew Langley and Cameron Dickerson also dropped straight-set decisions.

The Blue Raiders continue the road swing this weekend at the Larsen Bowker Invite hosted by Virginia Tech. In addition to the hosting Hokies, MT will face Columbia and Davidson during the tournament.

RESULTS
Doubles:
Gonzales Austin/Blake Bazarnik (VU) def. Chris Lang/Ben Davis (MT) 8-7 (7-2)
Charlie Jones/Jeff Offerdahl (VU) def. Camerson Dickerson/Marlon Brand 8-4
Joe Dorn/Alex DiValerio (VU) def. Matt Langley/Ettore Zito (MT) 8-2

Singles:
Charlie Jones (VU) def. Ben Davis (MT) 6-1, 6-0
Gonzales Austin (VU) def. Ettore Zito (MT) 7-5, 6-2
Blake Bazarnik (VU) def. Matthew Langley (MT) 6-4, 6-2
Christoph Lang (MT) def. Joe Dorn (VU) 6-7, 7-6, 6-2
Anton Kovrigin (VU) def. Dimitri Pippos (MT) 7-6, 6-7 (11-9)
Jeff Offerdahl (VU) def. Cameron Dickerson (MT) 6-1, 6-2

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