M. Tennis Set to Take on Ivy Foes

Coming off a successful Spring Break in California, which included a victory over No. 17 Pepperdine, the Harvard Men's Tennis team (13-4) returns back East to open up conference play against Ivy League foes Cornell and Columbia this weekend.

Despite the solid victories over the break, the Crimson dropped seven spots in the ITA National Team Tennis Rankings from No. 16 to No. 23. On a bright note, the rankings do not take into account the upset over Pepperdine and likely will reflect the victory in the next poll released on April 20.

Sophomore James Blake retains the No. 1 ranking in the country (a mark he has held since December 8), while Kunj Majmudar dropped to the No. 45 spot. Junior John Doran also cracked the top 100 this week, resting at No. 96.

In doubles play, the tandem of Blake and Majmudar moved up in the rankings to garner the No. 2 spot, and sophomore Scott Clark and co-captain Mike Passarella moved up a notch to No. 47.

Luckily for the Crimson, neither of this weekend's opponents should pose much of a threat. Both Cornell and Columbia are unranked in the ITA polls and none of their top players are ranked nationally.

Full of confidence following a 7-0 sweep of Cornell in their first Ivy League action of the year, the Lions (11-3) will need every bit of this swagger to garner a victory over the Crimson this weekend. With a 5-2 record at No. 1 singles, Steve Millerman leads Columbia.

Also handling a share of the responsibility of No. 1 singles is Salil Seshardi. It is unclear who will be the lucky man to take on the best college player in the country this weekend.

Cornell (9-5 overall; 1-2 EITA) heads into the weekend coming off of a hard-fought loss to New York rival Army, 4-3. Despite leading for a majority of the match, Army came back to win the contest in the final singles match when senior captain Peter Stahl lost a three-set heartbreaker 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5).

Against Columbia, the Big Red managed only one victory in the contest.

In order to avoid a similar sweep by Harvard, Cornell's slim chances for victory lie in the hands of Stahl and Travis Burns. In all likelihood, the Big Red will be Harvard's first Ivy League victory en route to a back-to-back conference title.

In the past, Harvard has manhandled Cornell. The Crimson leads the series against the Big Red 48-6, including a 7-0 sweep last year.

The Columbia match will take place at the Murr Center at 2 p.m. Friday. Cornell will arrive for a noon match on Saturday.