Men's Tennis Clinches Ivy Title

After a one-year absence from the top spot in the Ivy League, the Harvard men's tennis team earned a share of first place with a 4-3 victory over Dartmouth yesterday afternoon.

The Crimson (14-8, 6-1 Ivy) will share the league title with Columbia, but since Harvard defeated the Lions, 4-3, in head-to-head competition earlier this spring, the Crimson earns the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, which begins May 12.

The Crimson has had a long tradition of Ivy dominance, this being its 16th title since 1980.

The Big Green (8-10, 0-7), although winless in the Ivy League, only fell 4-3 to co-champ Columbia earlier this year and presented a tough match for the Crimson.

The No. 1 doubles team of co-captain Anthony Barker and freshman George Turner fell 2-8 in the first doubles match to Jeff Sloves and James Dinkmeyer of the Big Green.

Junior Dalibor Snyder and freshman Chris Chiou pulled even with an 8-3 win at the No. 3 doubles spot.

The crucial doubles point was left in the hands of junior William Lee and freshman Mark Riddell playing at No. 2 doubles. The pair pulled out the victory in a tiebreak 9-8 (4) and the Crimson took the early 1-0 lead in the match.

Riddell then turned around and made quick work of fellow freshman Jesse Paer with a 6-2, 6-4 win at the No. 5 singles spot.

Freshman Cliff Nguyen was dominant in his match at No. 2 singles. Nguyen came away with a 6-3, 6-0 victory that put the Crimson up 3-0.

Sophomore Oli Choo was unable to seal the victory for the Crimson with a 4-6, 3-6 loss at the No. 3 spot.

Fittingly, the deciding match was won by Barker, one of only two seniors on the team. Playing at the No. 4 spot, Barker found himself in a hole early, dropping the first set, 4-6.

Barker recovered control and evened the match at one set apiece, taking the second set, 6-3.

"My player made some easy errors in the second set to give me a break," Barker said.

Experience proved valuable for Barker in the third set as he finished Big Green freshman Borko Koreshi 6-2 in the final set and earned the fourth team point which clinched the Crimson victory and the Ivy title.

"After falling behind early it was a really good feeling to come back," Barker said.

With the victory sealed, Coach Dave Fish decided to pull Turner out of his No. 6 singles match due to an injury he sustained last weekend.

"We want to make sure he's healthy for the NCAA tournament," Fish said.

In a tough three-set battle, Lee lost his No. 1 singles match 3-6, 7-5, 3-6, giving the Big Green its third team point.

"Dartmouth was a very spirited team, and it was a great feeling to beat them and win the Ivies," Barker said.

Fish was pleased with his team's performance throughout the season.

"Our team is very even as far as talent," Fish said. "We don't have any stars. We've been able to win matches with a lot of hard work."

Harvard will now have several weeks to prepare for the NCAA tournament.

"The real pressure is off us," Fish said. "We've had tense matches going through the Ivies and the NCAAs will be the fun part. It's fun to go after teams you're not supposed to beat."

The Crimson, currently ranked No. 46 in the country, could face a top-16 team.

Harvard will probably have one advantage heading into the first round, however. The Crimson is the only northeast team that could host an NCAA regional.

"We have a 98 percent chance of hosting," Fish said. "It's always fun to play at home in front of your fans."

The NCAA will announce selections on May