The men’s tennis team is all set for its matches against Dartmouth on Apr. 6 and Harvard the following day. The No. 41 Red (11-5, 0-1) hopes to bounce back from a loss to Columbia in its first conference match this past weekend.
“We’ve come out stronger from our loss to Columbia,” said sophomore Quoc-Daniel Nguyen. “We want to make up for our last match now and are confident that we are still strong contenders to win the Ivy League tournament. We just have to take it one match at a time.”
The men lost to both Harvard and Dartmouth last season, by scores of 7-0 and 4-3 respectively. In the match with the Green, Dartmouth swept all three doubles matches. The Red was able to bounce back, though, with wins in straight sets at the top two singles spots by junior Venkat Iyer and sophomore Sam Fleck. Nguyen got another win at the No. 6 singles spot, but the Green took the No. 3, 4 and 5 matches, giving them the narrow 4-3 victory.
The No. 64 women’s team (11-1, 0-1) is also scheduled to play Dartmouth and Harvard at the Reis Center in Ithaca.
The women were similarly disappointed this past weekend with a loss to Columbia. It was the team’s first loss of the season, dethroning the last undefeated team in collegiate women’s tennis this year.
“We are really looking forward to the rest of the matches and it was fun to play the first match, even though we lost,” said freshman Laila Judeh. “It’s going to be a great season and we have a good chance of winning the Ivy League tournament even with the loss against Columbia.”
The women also fell to Harvard and Dartmouth, 6-1 and 4-3 respectively, last spring. In the match with Dartmouth, the Green took four of the six singles matches. However, the Red dominated the doubles scene. Junior Ryann Young and senior Christine Ordway won at the No. 2 spot and senior Sarah O’Neil and sophomore Lauren Frazier got a victory at No. 1.
According to Judeh, the Red has been training hard for these important Ivy matches, and losing its first game of the season was a wake up call for the team.
“We have been working really hard and we have what it takes to win against Harvard and Dartmouth,” she said. “If anything, losing the first game has given us more motivation to win.”
Original Author: Deeya Bajaj