Men's Tennis Falters in Alabama Contests

Alabama was less welcoming than Lynyrd Skynyrd advertised for the men’s tennis team, which came away from the Blue-Gray Classic in Montgomery with a 1-2 record.

Harvard (8-6) fell to eventual tournament winner No. 16 Texas Tech (16-1) in the first round, steamrolled Penn State (12-3) in the second, and yielded in the final round to Boise State (7-6).

While the record was unappealing, the team felt it faced difficult competition and was pleased with its play.

“I’m really happy. I feel everybody fought hard,” junior Alexei Chijoff-Evans said. “The energy was great, and we gave a good performance.”

BOISE STATE 4, HARVARD 3

In Harvard’s final match of the tournament, the Crimson fell in a close battle to No. 71 Boise State.

Harvard started off on the right foot, taking the doubles point by winning two of the three doubles matches. Junior Aba Omodele-Lucien and freshman Christo Schultz shut out their opposition at the top spot, and Chijoff-Evans and rookie Joshua Tchan added an 8-3 victory in the No. 3 match. The sophomore-freshman pairing of Alistair Felton and Andy Nguyen dropped the No. 2 match, 8-5.

The Crimson’s success did not last in the singles though, as Harvard was able to capture only two of the six matches. No. 4 Felton squeezed out a 6-4, 7-6 win, while Omodele-Lucien, Nguyen, and Tchan lost in straight sets.

Nguyen, still suffering from an injury sustained in the first match, elected to play rather than force the rest of his lineup to change.

No. 6 Schultz came back from a 5-2 deficit in the second set to force a tiebreaker and win, leaving Chijoff-Evans at the No. 1 spot with the deciding match against a talented opponent in James Meredith

“[The Boise State] No. 1 was as fine a player in the tournament as there was,” said Crimson coach Dave Fish ’72. “Just a beautiful athlete. Alexei played a great match.”

Chijoff-Evans fell in the third set, leaving his final score 6-2, 6-7, 6-1.

“[Meredith] was an absolutely incredible defensive player,” Chijoff-Evans said. “I’ve never played anybody like that.”

HARVARD 4, PENN STATE 0

In the first match of the consolation bracket, Harvard posted an impressive shutout of No. 44 Penn State to hand the Nittany Lions their third loss of the season.

The doubles point went the Crimson’s way first, as Omodele-Lucien and Schultz teamed up to win the top match, 8-6, and Chijoff-Evans and Tchan united to take the No. 3 match, 8-4. The No. 2 match went to Penn State, 8-5.

Nguyen, who suffered an injury in doubles play, pulled out of the singles matches, leaving Felton to take his spot at No. 3 and the rest of the lineup to advance one place up the ladder.

But Chijoff-Evans and Omodele-Lucien achieved speedy victories at the top of the ladder, and Schultz stepped up to secure the win for Harvard.

At the No. 1 spot, Chijoff-Evans cruised to a 6-0, 6-4 victory, and Omodele-Lucien followed with a 6-4, 6-4 triumph of his own at No. 2. Schultz finished with a 6-0, 7-5 score at the No. 5 spot to end the match.

“The match was a terrific win for us,” Fish said. “Christo Schultz had a terrific day.”

NO. 16 TEXAS TECH 4, HARVARD 0

In its first match of the Classic, Harvard’s chances for the championship were decisively squashed by No. 16 Texas Tech. The Red Raiders, who have lost only once this season and were the eventual tournament champions, did not drop a single match to Harvard.

“They’re a really good team,” Chijoff-Evans said. “All the players are really experienced. They make you play every single point to the full extent.”

To further complicate matters, the Crimson was playing without Schultz at No. 6.

“Christo decides to do a little acrobatic dance [in practice] and falls on his hand,” Fish explained. “We had to reshuffle our lineup.”

Harvard was outmatched from the start, as Texas Tech’s lineup of five Brazilian players and one Ecuadorean tore the Crimson apart. The Red Raiders took all three doubles by a score of 8-3, while in singles, Chijoff-Evans, Omodele-Lucien, and Nguyen lost in the top three spots to give Texas Tech the win.

—Staff writer Charlie Cabot can be reached at ccabot@college.harvard.edu.