Crimson Wins Season Finale

After winning its last five matches against five Ivy League teams, No. 65 Harvard (14-10, 5-2 Ivy) continued its dominance on the courts, as the team went on to take the final match of the season, 6-1, against Dartmouth (11-10, 2-4) yesterday afternoon at the Beren Tennis Center.

“I feel like the team overall played well in its second outdoor match of the season,” freshman Christo Schultz said. “Considering the conditions, we played a good match. There are many variables when you’re playing outside, and you can very easily get caught up in the distractions, but we were able to handle them well.”

The Crimson started off the match by capturing the doubles point by winning two of the three close matches.

Junior Aba Omodele-Lucien and Schultz teamed up on the top court, but lost the match, 8-5.

Junior Alexei Chijoff-Evans and freshman Joshua Tchan evened up the doubles score with a 8-5 win, followed by a 9-7 victory by freshmen Will McNamee and Andy Nguyen to clinch the doubles point. McNamee served two double faults in the last game, but redeemed himself by hitting an unreturnable backhand volley to close out the match.

“It definitely gave us confidence to win the doubles point going into the singles,” Chijoff-Evans said. “I feel that it was critical to win this match.”

The Crimson dominated in the singles, taking all but one match in straight sets. Playing at the No. 1 slot, Chijoff-Evans proved to be dominant against his opponent, going up 4-0 in the first set, and clinching the match, 6-2, 6-4, on a powerful serve that saw his competitor’s return go into the net.

“I took the match really seriously because my opponent was a good player,” Chijoff-Evans. ”I wanted to end my season on a pretty good record, so I was looking to get that last win.”

Schultz quickly wrapped up his singles match by the score of 6-3, 6-3. The lefty was dominant throughout the match. At one point, he leaped up into the air for an overhead smash. Tchan, playing at the No. 2 slot, wrapped up his match in similar fashion, with a big serve to take another singles point, 6-4, 6-3.

“I knew his game style and I just needed to focus on what I should do and the tactics I should play,” Schultz said. “He was playing a certain game style I’m good against as long as I’m particular about what shots I make and when.”

In the only loss of the match, Nguyen went down to his Dartmouth competitor, 6-3, 6-4. Down 5-2 in the second set, the rookie broke his opponent’s serve and held his own to bring the set within one game, but saw his chances at a comeback slip away on an ace from his opponent.

Though the contest was already clinched for the Crimson, Omodele-Lucien kept fighting hard to win his last match of the season. He broke his opponent to go up 6-5 in the first set, sending a strong forehand up the line and letting out a yell to send a message to his competitor across the net. Following this, he quickly took the next game and clinched another point for the Crimson, 7-5, 7-5.

Playing at the No. 6 slot, sophomore Mac McAnulty was the last man left standing on the courts, and he pulled out the longest match of the contest against the Big Green. The second set went all the way to a tiebreaker. With his team cheering him on, McAnulty defeated his opponent, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5).

With the win in the last match of the season, the Crimson squad looks to build on this confidence heading into next year. The team loses only one player in captain Michael Hayes to graduation next season.

“Fortunately, everyone who starts is coming back next year, which normally doesn’t happen,” Chijoff-Evans said. “We’re such a young team, and I feel like the sky’s the limit. I feel like we can be NCAA contenders.”