M. Tennis Jumps on Ivy Opponents, Goes 13-1 For the Weekend

The Harvard men's tennis team began its annual domination of the Ivy League with two sound victories this weekend at the Murr Center.

The Crimson (15-4, 2-0 Ivy) defeated Columbia (11-4, 1-1) 6-1 on Friday and returned the next day to blank Cornell (9-6, 0-2), 7-0.

The two victories bode well for the Crimson's Ivy League season.

"Columbia is always a legitimate threat," Assistant Coach Peter Mandeau said. "Any time we get a win over Columbia, we know we are doing our homework and paying attention to detail."

Because the Beren Tennis Center is undergoing renovation, Harvard faced both Ivy foes at its new indoor facility in the Murr Center. The team is now 4-0 at the Murr, having defeated No. 26 Kentucky and No. 12 Tennessee at the Crimson Challenge in February.

Columbia came into Friday's match on a three game winning streak, including a 7-0 thrashing of Cornell in its own Ivy League opener. Unfortunately for the Lions, Harvard did not roll over like the Big Red.

Harvard first found its stride in doubles, an area that has provided some frustration in recent tournament play.

In response to a string of losses, Harvard chose to rearrange its pairings for last weekend's Pepperdine match, and the changes sparked great results. The Crimson swept the doubles matches and defeated No. 17 Pepperdine, 4-3.

The Crimson continued with the new look against the Lions and swept the doubles point, taking all three matches.

The new duo of co-captain Mike Passarella and sophomore Andrew Styperek began the doubles sweep with an 8-2 win at No. 3.

The Crimson's No. 1 pair of sophomore James Blake and co-captain Kunj Majmudar, currently ranked No. 2 in the country by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, next defeated the Lions' top team, 8-3. Blake and Majmudar are the only pair that has played together the entire season.

At No. 2, the second new pairing of junior Joe Green and sophomore Scott Clark began sluggishly, dropping three straight breaks to fall behind 1-6. Only two games from defeat, Green and Passarella found their focus and rattled off seven straight games to win 8-6 and complete the sweep.

"Green and Clark have had a couple of excellent outings," Mandeau said. "It does take some time to get together as a combination, but they look very good as of now."

The Crimson continued to dominate in the singles portion of the dual meet.

Having lost to the Lions' top singles player, Steve Millerman, in last year's meeting at Columbia, Blake was looking to get even and wasted little time doing so. Blake, who is ranked No. 1 in the country by the ITA, disposed of Millerman 6-2, 6-3 and found a seat to watch his teammates.

The No.2 and No.3 spots went the same way. Doran recorded a win at No.2 , 6-1, 6-3. No. 3 Majmudar also won in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4.

Sophomore Scott Clark registered the final Crimson victory of the day in a long three setter. He prevailed in a 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 decision.

Although the Crimson had won its Ivy opener in decisive style, it did not celebrate with a late night because of its a 12:00 p.m. start against Cornell the next day.

Cornell entered the weekend play having lost it last four matches. The Big Red traveled to Dartmouth on Friday and before turning the bus south towards Cambridge.

Alhough the Big Red came into the match pumped, Harvard won even without some of its top players.

Blake and Majmudar were sidelined in both doubles and singles to provide their teammates with some valuable Ivy League experience. Majmudar also took the day off to focus on his thesis.

Although the line-up featured some younger, more inexperienced players, the team played with a lot of poise throughout the afternoon.

"We need to get them some experience now, as many of these guys may be playing much more next season," Coach Mike Fish said. "They're under some real pressure today, but I have confidence in them."

Fish's confidence was well placed. Harvard won the doubles point and then swept the singles with a number of gutsy performances in three set matches.

Playing together for the first time this season, sophomore Mike Rich and freshman Cillie Swart registered the first doubles victory of the day, 8-5.

Harvard's No. 2 of Passarella and Styperek were moving towards a similar outcome when Styperek suffered a serious ankle sprain.

Up a break at 4-2, Styperek was serving to move within three games of a win.

"I was serving at 15-40 and I decided to finish off the game with a few big serves," Styperek said. "I got the first one off, but afterwards I couldn't walk."

Styperek served out the game but struggled around the court for the rest of the match.

On the next court, Green and Clark were filling in at the No. 1 position and battling for the win. Passarella and Styperek continued to play until Green and Clark closed out the victory at 8-4.

With the doubles point secure, Passarella and Styperek retired at 5-5.

Styperek officially suffered a severe ankle sprain and spent the rest of the day on crutches. There was no word on how long he will be out.

Styperek, who is normally the team's No. 7 singles player, was slotted for the No. 4 or 5 position against Cornell.

Playing in Blake's place at No. 1, Doran dominated his opponent with a large serve and screaming shots from the base line. While many others were finishing up their first sets, Doran was walking off the court with a 6-1, 6-0 win.

The win was Doran's eleventh straight in dual match play. He has been impressive over the last couple of months, moving up a slot to No. 2 singles and breaking the top 100 in the ITA's bi-weekly rankings at No.96.

Harvard's No. 6 Tom Lee was the next person to register a point. He made short work of his Big Red counterpart, 6-1, 6-3.

At No. 2, Green battled through a long two-setter that featured a number of extended rallies, most of which fell to Green. Although he did not over power his opponent in the 6-4, 6-3 win, Green's consistency and superb touch smothered Cornell's No. 2.

Newcomer Anthony Barker won his first match of the day when he broke serve in the final game of the third set to win 6-4, 2-6, 6-4. The win was Barker's first of the year.

The most exciting matched of the day came at the No. 3 and No. 4 positions. At No. 4, Passarella looked flat in the first part of his match, falling behind 1-6, 1-4.

Looking frustrated, Passarella returned to his bench in the middle of the second and got some words of encouragement from Fish. Whatever Fish said, Passarella responded. The co-captain took the second set 6-4 with an aggressive net game.

In the third, Passarella took his opponent to a tiebreak. After saving a match point, Passarella completed the dramatic comeback. The celebration was short-lived, however, as Passarella had to dodge an airborne racquet thrown in frustration from the other side of the net. The violent hurl seemed to sum up Cornell's feelings throughout the day.

The sweep now depended on Clark.

Clark moved up to the No. 3 position from his usual spot in the bottom half of the Crimson line-up. Facing a talented Cornell freshman, Clark dropped the first set 3-6 as his backhand failed him throughout.

In the second, Clark battled to win the set in a tiebreak, saving a match point. Clark seemed to gather accuracy and energy as the match grew old and frustrated his opponent.

Clark pulled out the match, 3-6, 7-6, 7-5, to complete the Crimson sweep.

A win against Cornell is one of the more familiar and predictable parts of the Ivy season. Harvard last lost to the Big Red in 1960. With the win on Saturday, the Crimson extended the Big Red white-out to 39 straight matches.

The Crimson will look to continue its domination of the Ancient Eight when it travels to Princeton and Penn next weekend.