Dual Match Season Begins
ECAC Championship next up at Yale
The second installment of the 2010 Spring Season Update:
Mark Your Calendar: This weekend the Crimson Netters travel to New Haven for the ECAC Championships (moved from the old date and location in September). All the Ivies will be in attendance, as the boys from Cambridge and seeded #2 but hope to repeat as Champions. If you live in the area – come up (or down) for some exciting action at Yale's beautiful new facility.
Jan. 29-30: Harvard Kick-Off (Cast of Characters: Harvard, BYU, MSU and DePaul)
The dual-match seasoned opened at home with three hard-fought matches in two days. As Coach Fish mentioned in a quick email update, we started off the season falling 4-3 to BYU after having a championship point on our racket. We won the doubles point with some real gusto at #1 and #2 doubles as our top pairing of junior Aba Omedele-Lucien and freshman Christo Schultz bested their counterparts 8-6 at the top spot and the fall Regional winners, frosh Andy Nguyen and sophomore Alistair Felton, won by the same score at the second position. In singles, the strength was in the back of our line-up as we won both #5 and #6 where Felton and Schultz garnered two more points for the Crimson. Freshman Josh Tchan and Andy Nguyen battled some stiff competition at #3 and #4 but fell in straights and left things up to the juniors, Aba Omodele-Lucien at #2 and Alexei Chijoff-Evans at #1. Unfortunately, the top dogs both fell in thee after winning the first set.
While a tough day at the office, the boys from Cambridge had to bounce back for doubles the same day against DePaul – which the they did with real poise – and put us up 1-0 with singles to be completed the following evening.
On Saturday, we lined up against Mississippi State Bulldogs in another thriller that didn't go our way. For the third time, we won the doubles point with inspired play. Each of the three pairings features a freshman with Christo Schultz at the top spot, Andy Nguyen at second and Josh Tchan proving himself at third. While up 1-0, the battle was just beginning. Harvard garnered their point at the back of the line-up once again with Alistair Felton winning at #5 and Christo Schultz at #6 was leading in the third (about to give Harvard their third point) before the match was stopped. Sadly the Crimson fell in four three setters and squandered the lead to a strong Miss State team. There were some titanic struggles up and down the line-up and we were up a break in the third at the top spot before faltering. Another bitter pill to swallow, but the team showed real promise and with three freshmen in the starting line-up the team has only up to go.
Later that same day, the Crimson faced off in singles play against DePaul and this time were able to put one up in the win column. Once again, the back of the line-up proved its mettle by taking a point at three through six as Felton, Nguyen and Captain Mike Hayes won respectively. Mike's father was in attendance for his first college match as his family hails from Sydney, Australia and made the journey East (or is it West?) for the first time. There were many notables in the crowd including our faculty liaisons Dick Gross, Tom Dingman, and Bill Todd as well as many alums and friends like Paul Palandjian and Mitty Arnold (who were screaming from behind the fence). The team is battle tested and hungry for more action.
Next stop – Yale
David Fish
Scott Mead '77 Family Head Coach for Harvard Men's Tennis
Harvard University Dept. of Athletics
Murr Center
65 N. Harvard St.
Boston, MA 02163-1012
Phone: 617.495.2695/Fax: 617.495.2700
Home - GoCrimson.com—Official Web Site of Harvard University Athletics
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