The Crimson will face Cal and either Mississippi State or NC State to fight for a berth in the ITA Division I National Team Indoor Championships.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – No. 30 Harvard men's tennis readies for a challenging weekend, as the Crimson head to Berkeley to take on No. 15 Cal in the first round of the 2015 ITA Kick-Off Weekend. The Crimson and Bears are set to start at 10 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 23.
The winner of Harvard/Cal will then face off against the winner of Mississippi State and NC State in the championship match Saturday, Jan. 24 at 1 p.m.
Schedule of Play:
Friday, Jan. 23 – 10 a.m. - #15 Cal vs. #30 Harvard
Friday, Jan. 23 – 1 p.m. - #21 Mississippi State vs. #27 NC State
Saturday, Jan. 24 – 10 a.m. - Consolation Match
Saturday, Jan. 24 – 1 p.m. - Championship Match
ITA Kick-Off
The seventh annual ITA Kick-Off Weekend will feature 120 teams - 60 men's and 60 women's - competing across the country for berths in the ITA National Team Indoor Championships in February. The ITA Division I National Men's Team Indoor Championships will be hosted by the University of Illinois at Midtown Athletic Club in Chicago.
Scouting the Field
No. 15 Cal ended last season with an appearance in the round of 16 in the NCAA Championships, but lost its top two players from that squad. The Golden Bears have two players ranked in the ITA rankings - Filip Bergevi (93rd) and Andre Goransson (106th). Gregory Bayane and Chase Melton, who played in the first doubles spot for Cal last season, are also back and open the spring ranked 42nd.
Mississippi State (No. 21) lost half of its lineup from a team that finished the season ranked inside the ITA top-20. The Bulldogs lone senior Tassilo Schmid is also the team's lone nationally ranked singles player, checking in at 63rd. Florian Lakat, who played the top singles position last year, is also back.
With the loss of only one of its top six singles players and all three doubles pairs from last season intact in this year's lineup, No. 27 NC State features three players with a national singles rankings in 39th-ranked Nick Horton, 51st-ranked Austin Powell, and 123rd-ranked Robbie Mudge. Mudge and Ian Dempster, the USTA/ITA Carolina Region doubles champions, are also ranked 19th in doubles.
In the Rankings
Harvard opened the season at No. 29 in the nation in the first Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) poll and currently sits at No. 30. Senior Denis Nguyen sits at No. 57, while sophomore Sebastian Beltrame holds the No. 86 spot. As a pair, Nguyen and sophomore Brian Yeung register a No. 6 ranking in the men's national doubles rankings.
Team
Last Time Out
The Crimson defeated William & Mary, 5-2, and Marist, 6-1, to open the 2015 season last weekend at the Murr Center.
LIVE! From the Murr, It's Men's Tennis
For the second-straight year, all Murr Center matches will be streamed live on the Ivy League Digital Network. Subscribers to the network can watch matches both live and on-demand at their convenience, and will have access to live and on-demand content for all Harvard athletic events through the duration of their subscription.
Fall Ball
Denis Nguyen and Brian Yeung wrapped the fall season with a spot at the 2014 USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships after winning the doubles event at the ITA Regional Championships. In the semifinals of the regionals, Nguyen and Yeung bested Cornell's Vrabel and Casares to square off against Dartmouth's Sakinis and Kipuoras. The duo turned away the Big Red pair for the USTA/ITA regional championship title.
#Winning
The Crimson finished the fall season with an 81-39 (.675) record in tournament play. Sebastian Beltrame and Andrew Ball both registered a 10-3, while three Crimson student-athletes picked up wins over ranked opponents (Beltrame, Denis Nguyen and Alex Steinroeder).
Last Year
The Crimson is coming off an appearance in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, as Denis Nguyen became Harvard's first All-American since 2005 with a semifinals appearance in the men's singles draw.
On the Sidelines
David Fish, the Scott Mead '77 Family Head Coach for Harvard Men's Tennis, is in his 39th season with the Crimson after coaching the men's tennis team to an 18-7 record last season and leading the Crimson to the second round of the NCAA tournament for the third-straight season. Fish was named the winner of the 2014 ITA Meritorious Service Award in December.
