Princeton University
Harvard
Players Mentioned
Harvard Gets Past Men's Tennis, 4-3
April 12, 2015 | Men's Tennis
The season series with the Princeton men's tennis team went to Harvard with a 4-3 win Sunday at the Lenz Tennis Center that wasn't decided until the last match on court.
Though Sunday's match was the only scheduled meeting between the teams entering the season, Princeton and Harvard met in the ECAC Championship in February and at a University of San Diego-hosted tournament in March, with Princeton taking the second meeting.
The loss moves Princeton to 3-2 on the Ivy season with the league's top-ranked team, Columbia, coming to campus Friday.
The afternoon started off well for the Tigers, who won the doubles point with one of the match wins coming from national No. 49 Zack McCourt and Tom Colautti over the nation's 10th-ranked team, Denis Nguyen and Brian Yeung, 6-4. Luke Gamble and Kial Kaiser, freshmen who hadn't played together all season, clinched the point with a 7-5 win at third doubles.
Harvard needed four points in singles play to take the match, and the Crimson accomplished that. Diego Vives pushed the lead to 2-0 for Princeton on court six, but Harvard got the next two wins, from 37th-ranked Nguyen on court one and from Sebastian Beltrame at third. Yeung then put Harvard up 3-2 with a win on court four in the afternoon's first three-set match, and though Colautti's win on court two kept Princeton alive, Kenny Tao clinched it with his win on court five.
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(30) Princeton (18-6, 3-2 Ivy) vs. (35) Harvard (17-6, 3-1 Ivy) Apr. 12, 2015 • Lenz Tennis Center, Princeton, N.J. |
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Doubles
| 1 | (49) Colautti/McCourt (P) | |
(10) Nguyen/Yeung (H) | 6-4 |
| 2 | Day/Ben Tso (P) | |
Beltrame/Hu (H) | 6-1 |
| 3 | Gamble/Kial Kaiser (P) | |
Andrew Ball/Shaun Chaudhuri (H) | 7-5 |
Singles
| 1 | Zack McCourt (P) | |
(37) Denis Nguyen (H) | 6-4, 6-3 |
| 2 | Tom Colautti (P) | |
Nicky Hu (H) | 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-2 |
| 3 | Alex Day (P) | |
Sebastian Beltrame (H) | 6-4, 6-4 |
| 4 | Josh Yablon (P) | |
Brian Yeung (H) | 7-6, 3-6, 6-1 |
| 5 | Luke Gamble (P) | |
Kenny Tao (H) | 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 |
| 6 | Diego Vives (P) | |
Grant Solomon (H) | 6-4, 6-2 |
| Next match: vs. (22) Columbia, Friday, April 17, 2 p.m. at Lenz Tennis Center (Jadwin Gym if weather) |
| Match notes: The Crimson ran their win streak against Princeton in Ivy League matches to four, with Princeton's last win in the series coming in 2011 ... Josh Yablon had an injury timeout in the first game of the third set before resuming play. |
| Order of finish: Doubles: 2,1,3; Singles: 6,1,3,4,2,5 |
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Coach Billy Pate on the match: "This was another incredibly close match in a great rivalry. Similar to our match in San Diego three weeks ago, it was a back-and-forth match that came down to the very end. These are two very competitive teams and they bring out a great deal of energy, emotion and quality tennis. I'm veyr proud of our team today and after a disappointing performance yesterday, we responded in a positive way. I want to thank all of our alums and fans that were in attendance today and really created a wonderful atmosphere. It's unfortunate Josh (Yablon) was injured at the start of his third set, because he looked to have gained momentum in his match. Nonetheless, we had our chances and just didn't quite get the win this time. However, this is the type of effort and energy we must exude every time we take the court. If we do that, good things will happen. We're still in the hunt for an NCAA at-large berth and we'll look to have a great week of practice in preparation for Columbia at home on Friday." |