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HARVARD GAZETTE ARCHIVES Men's Tennis Nets ECAC Championship
The top-seeded Harvard Men's Tennis Team won its third consecutive ECAC Championship in dramatic fashion over the weekend of Oct. 8-11, rallying from a 3-0 deficit to edge second-seeded Columbia 4-3 in the finals at Princeton's Lenz Tennis Center. After losing eight out of nine of the first sets, the Crimson displayed poise and determination as the entire squad pulled together to stage one of the most exciting comebacks in Harvard tennis history. Columbia jumped ahead 1-0 after claiming the doubles point with wins in all three doubles matches. The Lions then won the first two completed singles matches, at Nos. 3 and 6, to extend its lead to 3-0 and pull within one point of taking the match. In three of the four remaining singles matches, Columbia won the first set, and things looked bleak for Harvard. But the Crimson players did not despair, continuing to do battle, fighting their way out of the hole to register wins at singles positions 1, 2, 4, and 5 to clinch the match. Sophomore William Lee put the first Harvard win on the books, as he won all the clutch points (including a diving volley on match point) in a win over Akram Zaman at No. 2. Senior co-captain Joe Green was next in line, as he fought back after dropping the first set, 6-4, to win 6-0 in the second and 6-2 in the third, earning a win at No. 1 over Columbia's Steve Millerman. The team score then suddenly became even at 3-3 when Crimson freshman Oliver Choo finished off a 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 win over Oscar Chow at No. 5. It all came down to No. 4 singles, where all eyes were on the match between Harvard junior Andrew Styperek and Columbia's Peter Holik. Styperek lost the first set, 6-4, took the second, 6-3, and was up a break in the third when news came in that his match would determine the ECAC championship. Receiving serve at 5-3 in the third, Styperek broke Holik to clinch the Harvard victory. "This ranks up there with the most exciting victories I have been involved in in my 24 years of coaching at Harvard," commented coach David Fish '72 after the match. "The guys simply never stopped believing they could win this match." Making the victory even more impressive is that the Crimson was playing without the services of its top singles player, senior co-captain John Doran, who has been recovering from a knee injury. Playing without four of last year's six starting singles players (due to graduation and to James Blake turning pro), only two of Harvard's 1999 squad had any ECAC experience before the weekend matches. Harvard stormed through the 16-team tournament field by blanking Georgetown, 7-0, and Navy, 7-0, in the first two rounds, before defeating Brown, 5-2, in semifinal action on Oct. 10. The tournament represents the first dual match play of the 1999-00 season for Harvard, as the team opens with a 4-0 record. Harvard's win in the Oct. 11 final avenges a 5-2 loss to Columbia in the 1996 ECAC Championship, which was the last time the teams met in the tourney.On the weekend of Oct. 16th and 17th, the tennis team did not fare quite so well. Coming down off the high of winning the ECAC Championships at Princeton, the Crimson struggled on their home courts in the 1999 Harvard Fall Invitational tournament. Crimson players reached the finals in two of three singles brackets and the semifinals in doubles against players from Colorado, Bowling Green, Rutgers, and MIT. After four weeks of events, the team has a few much needed respite from competition before returning to Princeton for the ITA Region I Championships in November.
Copyright 1999 President and Fellows of Harvard College |
