Princeton University
Harvard
Players Mentioned
Harvard Tops Men's Tennis in ECAC Semifinals
February 16, 2015 | Men's Tennis
ECAC Championship Video Stream
Host Harvard held home court Sunday and defeated Princeton 4-2 in the ECAC Championship semifinals.
No. 57 Princeton took the 30th-ranked Crimson to a tiebreaker on the final doubles court in a battle for the match's first point, but the Harvard pair of Denis Ngyuen and Brian Yeung, the No. 15-ranked doubles pair in the nation, blanked Princeton in that tiebreak to claim the point.
Princeton took the first two singles matches off the court, first with Josh Yablon giving up only two games in a straight-set win over Alex Steinroeder on court four, and then with Kial Kaiser's win on court six against Grant Solomon to take a 2-1 lead.
The next three matches on court went Harvard's way, and that clinched the match. Nicky Hu defeated Alex Day in straight sets to square the match at 2-2, and Sebastian Beltrame, ranked 80th in the nation, rebounded from losing the middle set to defeat Tom Colautti. Zack McCourt and Luke Gamble were left battling in third-set matches, but 91st-ranked Denis Nguyen won the last two sets against McCourt to clinch the match and halt Gamble's contest on court five.
Princeton will play in the third-place match Monday at 9 a.m. against Brown.
| 2 |  |
(57) Princeton (6-1) vs. (30) Harvard (7-2) Feb. 15, 2015 • Cambridge, Mass. |
 |
4 |
Doubles
| 1 | Colautti/Gamble (P) | |
(15) Nguyen/Brian Yeung (H) | 7-6(0) |
| 2 | McCourt/Ben Tso (P) | |
Beltrame/Hu (H) | 6-4 |
| 3 | Day/Yablon (P) | |
Solomon/Steinroeder (H) | 6-4 |
Singles
| 1 | (117) Zack McCourt (P) | |
(91) Denis Nguyen (H) | 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 |
| 2 | Tom Colautti (P) | |
(80) Sebastian Beltrame (H) | 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 |
| 3 | Alex Day (P) | |
Nicky Hu (H) | 7-6(5), 6-3 |
| 4 | Josh Yablon (P) | |
Alex Steinroeder (H) | 6-1, 6-1 |
| 5 | Luke Gamble (P) | DNF | Kenny Tao (H) | 6-7(5), 6-3, 5-3 H |
| 6 | Kial Kaiser (P) | |
Grant Solomon (H) | 6-3, 6-2 |
| Next match: Mon., Feb. 16, 9 a.m., ECAC third-place match vs. Brown |
| Match notes: The defeat ended Princeton's unbeaten start to the season, at 6-0 its longest since 1979 when the Tigers started 14-0. |
| Order of finish: Doubles: 2,3,1; Singles: 4,6,3,2,1 |
 |
Coach Billy Pate on the match: "It was another incredbily close match and we put ourselves in a good position today to be successful. We had a good chance for the doubles point as we held a match point at No. 1. Nonetheless, we rebounded well, winning the first four sets in singles. I was very proud of the effort and how we competed despite not getting the win. We'll look to bounce back tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. against Brown or Dartmouth." |