M. Tennis Wins Ivies

After a one year sabbatical, the men's tennis Ivy League championship returned to its rightful home in Cambridge.

The Crimson finished with a 6-1 Ivy record to claim the crown and finished off the season by hosting a NCAA Tournament regional at the Beren Tennis Center, where it lost in the first round to Notre Dame.

Harvard finished the season ranked No. 47 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association polls, surprising considering the uncertainty surrounding the team at the beginning of the year.

Head Coach Dave Fish '72 injected the squad with youth, recruiting six freshmen to help a team that lost its three top players from 1999-00.

The Crimson's first task as a team was in the fall when it hosted the ECAC tournament, looking to defend its title in the 16-team field. After beating Colgate and Army in the opening rounds, Harvard stumbled in singles play against Princeton, who went on to win the title.

Individual tournaments rounded out the rest of the season and results showed the team had depth. Returning starters like co-captain Anthony Barker, junior William Lee and sophomore Oli Choo all showed improvement from last season.

More importantly the freshmen proved they, too, were going to be major contributors. Cliff Nguyen, George Turner and Mark Riddell all cracked the regular singles lineup by the time the spring season rolled around.

March means heavy travel time for the team, and the Crimson crossed the country taking on some of the top teams in the country with mixed results. Harvard went down to Alabama for the Blue-Grey Classic and left with a win over the higher-ranked Tulsa, but not much else.

Spring break, however, showed the rest of the league that the Crimson was back in form after faltering in 2000. Harvard went to California ranked No. 28 and came within a point of defeating both No. 19 Fresno St. and No. 8 Southern Methodist University.

After that it was clear sailing. The Ivy season began with the league more competitive than ever before, but the Crimson rolled off four straight victories, including big wins over defending champion Columbia and a win against Princeton on the road.

The freshmen were a big part of the Crimson's hot streak. Nguyen played at the No. 1 spot for a while before settling into No. 2 behind Lee, while Choo, Barker, Turner and Riddell rounded out the other singles spots. Harvard was having a tough time in doubles, but the lower singles positions constantly won matches.

"We were able to use the youth of our team to our advantage," Barker said. "Never before had I played on a team that generated so much enthusiasm and spirit."

The Crimson faltered slightly, losing to Yale in a match that would have given it the Ivy championship outright. As it was, Harvard was able to clinch several days later when it defeated Dartmouth on the road.

Hosting the NCAA regional at home was a big coup for the Crimson, whose home record has historically been excellent. But the Fighting Irish were just too much, rolling off four straight points before Harvard could pull out even one match.

Harvard will lose only two of its players-Barker and co-captain Mike Rich, who was injured for most of the season. The future of the Ivy League championship seems especially secure with so much youth.