Men's Tennis Wraps Up Fall Season with Harvard Halloween Invite

The Harvard men’s tennis team performed well in its final home contest of the fall season this weekend, as it hosted the Harvard Halloween Invite at the Murr Center.

The tournament was different than most of the team’s fall contests. Only a few players from each team competed, and the tournament featured a single draw in both singles and doubles with eight players each.

“This was a boutique-size tournament for us,” head coach Dave Fish ’72 said. “It gives a chance for our guys who don’t get to play high in the lineup a lot to compete against guys who do play for other teams. It’s a great chance to get more matches in.”

This weekend, players from Brown, Army, Dartmouth, Bryant, and Tufts traveled to Cambridge to compete in the tournament. The Black Knights, Bulldogs, and Jumbos sent their whole squads, but the Bears and Big Green only sent players who had not seen as much fall season action.

In doubles, the Crimson represented both tandems in the final. The duo of sophomores Kelvin Lam and Conor Haughey took down teams from Brown and Army before a showdown against juniors Christo Schultz and Alex Steinroeder, who beat teams from Dartmouth and Tufts.

In the final, the sophomores snuck by their top-seeded teammates in a tiebreaker, 8-7, to take home the doubles title.

Schultz, who did not compete for the team last season, saw his first fall action this weekend in a return from a shoulder injury.

“We let Christo play some doubles, but not singles yet,” Fish said. “It was nice to see him back in action. I thought Kelvin and Conor played well too. It was very high quality doubles.”

In singles, Lam came very close to taking home the crown, but suffered an ankle injury in the final and was forced to retire. After defeating an opponent from the Black Knights and then beating classmate Nicky Hu, 6-3, 6-2, Lam faced Brown’s Justin To in the final.  But with the score at 6-5, 5-2 and up match point, Lam sprained his ankle and couldn’t continue playing.

“Kelvin did a really great job,” Steinreoder said. “It was really unfortunate that he got hurt, especially because he was up match point and playing really well.”

Co-captain Casey MacMaster and Haughey also competed in singles. MacMaster fell to a player from the Bulldogs, but Haughey was able to pick up a win in the consolation round.

The team believes that it can benefit from getting extra matches in for players who normally don’t compete, according to Fish.

“Tournaments like these are a great confidence builder,” Fish said. “There are things that happen in these tournaments that don’t happen in dual matches. The guys get a couple matches under their belt and gain more confidence.”

The team will wrap up its fall season next weekend at the Tribe Invitational hosted by William & Mary, and is looking forward to facing strong competition that includes Old Dominion, Penn State, and William & Mary.

“We’re feeling pretty good,” Steinroeder said. “Everyone is practicing really hard, and opefully we can finish on a strong note. It’ll be good competition, and it’s our last time this fall to find out what we need to improve on.”

—Staff writer Justin C. Wong can be reached at justin.wong@thecrimson.com.