#27 Harvard Tennis: News and Court Views
In this issue
Ivy Title Triumph
Harvard downs Dartmouth 6-1
NCAAs in Starkville, Mississippi: Preview
Seven All-Ivy Awards
Harvard Downs Dartmouth 6-1
The Ivy Title came down to the last match of the season in Hanover against the Big Green. We held sole possession of first place going into the contest but needed to beat Dartmouth to keep Princeton and Columbia's hands off the crown. The team had dropped their previous match against Brown, thereby leaving the door open a crack for the two teams tied for second. It was our first loss in the league and snapped our 12 match-winning streak.
It was a beautiful, calm 60 degree day in Hanover so we played outdoors in full view of all the Dartmouth community. Fraternity brothers lined the fence, which made for some interesting heckling. The team responded right from the opening bell, getting up a break in doubles on all three courts. Casey MacMaster and Denis Nguyen clinched at #1 8-4, while Andy Nguyen and Nicky Hu at #2 and Alex Steinroeder and Kelvin Lam both won simultaneously to make a clean sweep of the doubles.
In singles action, the Crimson train continued to gather momentum. Shaun Chaudhuri was the first off the court (probably the first time that has ever happened), as he notched his sixth win in the Ivy Season at #2. He played some outstanding tennis and combined his consistency with newly found power and aggressive court positioning. Captain Andy Nguyen put his loss against Brown in the rear-view mirror by motoring ahead to a quick straight sets victory at #3, putting us 3-0 and only one point from the title. Denis Nguyen stepped up at the top slot to clinch the Ivy Title for the second year in a row. It was a climactic end to a long battle. Alex Steinroeder and Nicky Hu would notch wins at #4 and #5 respectively once the match had been decided to give us six points on the day. The team celebrated the whole drive back to Cambridge.
Here is a link to all the scores from the Ivy-clinching win.
NCAA Preview:
The team leaves on Tuesday evening for Starkville, Mississippi for one of sixteen 4-team opening round tournaments, ours to be hosted by Mississippi State. We drew Samford in the first round (not Stanford from Palo Alto) on Friday at 10am, the winner to play Miss State on Saturday at 1pm. According to MSU's website, this is the first time any team from Harvard has travelled to Starkville! The winner of this bracket will qualify for the sweet 16 hosted by the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. Just like old times, the boys will be taking many of their exams on the road. Brings back old memories! You can follow us on Twitter at HMTOfficial or check the MSU Tennis website for LiveScoring. Here is a link to the NCAA draw.
Seven All-Ivy Awards:
The Ivy coaches selected five of our players for All-Ivy Awards. Denis Nguyen and Shaun Chaudhuri were named first team All-Ivy selections for singles. Denis and Casey both earned the honor for first team in doubles with a 6-1 mark at the top spot. Andy Nguyen and Alex Steinroeder earned Second Team All Ivy honors in singles. Andy Nguyen was also selected to the Second Team in doubles.
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Scott Mead Family Head Coach of Men's Tennis
Harvard University Dept of Athletics
Murr Center
65 N. Harvard St.
Boston, MA 02163
fish@fas.harvard.edu
GoCrimson Men's Tennis website
Harvard Men's Tennis blog
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