M. Tennis Begins NCAA Play

Thursday was a day of recognition for individual members of the Harvard men’s tennis team, but the Crimson’s hope is that the weekend provides recognition for the team as a whole.

On Saturday and Sunday, Harvard hosts one of 16 four-team NCAA regionals at the Beren Tennis Center.

The Crimson, ranked No. 33 nationally, will take on Marist College, the Metro Atlantic Conference champion, at 2 p.m. Saturday’s first match is between No. 4 Baylor and Hartford at 10 am.

The winners advance to play Sunday at noon.

“The entire team is looking forward to the weekend, to playing Marist on Saturday and hopefully getting a chance to play either Baylor or Hartford,” said Associate Coach Peter Mandeau.

Harvard played Marist in the ECAC tournament in the fall, earning a 6-1 win.

“I’m sure they are a different team than they were in October,” Mandeau said.

The Crimson are also a different team now than in the fall. It has added junior No. 1 Dave Lingman and is coming off a successful Ivy League season.

“We’ll play Marist like any other team,” freshman Jonathan Chu said. “We’re going to go after them in all the matches.”

“You can’t overlook Marist, they made it to the tournament,” captain Will Lee said.

With a 25-1 record, Baylor is the prohibitive favorite this weekend. Despite their lofty ranking, the Bears were denied home court for the regionals. Harvard clinched the home spot by having the highest ranking of any team in the Northeast.

If Harvard was to advance this weekend, it would head to Texas A&M for the Sweet Sixteen through the Championship, to be held May 18-22.

While the Crimson is hoping to gain team success against a competitive regional field, its members already gained individual accolades on Thursday when the Ivy League awards were announced.

Leading the parade of honors was Chu, who was named Ivy League Rookie of the Year and the ITA Region I Rookie Player-of-the-Year on the strength of his 31-10 singles record playing at No. 2. Chu also made the first team All-Ivy squad in singles.

Chu and Lingman were named first-team All-Ivy as a doubles pair, while Lingman and sophomore Chris Chiou were named second-team All-Ivy squad for their singles performances.

Captain Will Lee and sophomore Cliff Nugyen won second-team All-Ivy honors as a doubles pair.

‘The awards don’t mean much,” Lee added. “We’re still focused on winning this weekend. We’re all very excited, and we’re quite confident too.”