CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – In front of a packed crowd at the Beren Tennis Center, No. 15 Harvard Men's Tennis toppled No. 11 Columbia, 4-3, in their third meeting of the season to remain perfect in Ivy League play.
The match clincher,
Ronan Jachuck said after his victory, "What an exciting match. That is probably one of the best crowds and probably one of the most exciting finishes I've had playing at home at Harvard. This is the third time we've played [Columbia] this year, one the first, lost the second, so this was the tiebreaker. Every year we have this match circled on the calendar, we know its going to be a battle and one of the matches that decides the Ivy's with both of us undefeated."
The Crimson were behind 1-0 early as they dropped the doubles point after falling in matches at the No. 1 and 3 positions.
Not wavering, Harvard went to work in singles play. Senior co-captain,
Harris Walker, got the Crimson on the board and evened the match in his final home regular season match. After falling 4-6 in the first set, Walker dominated the remainder of the contest winning the final two sets, 6-0, 6-2.
Shortly after Harvard tied up the battle, Columbia was victorious at the No. 4 position despite
Daniel Milavsky forcing tiebreakers in both sets.
As Columbia held a 2-1 lead, each of the four remaining matches moved into the final sets. The Crimson once again tied up the match with an inspired victory from senior
Steven Sun at the No. 5 position. Sun started strong, pulling out a 7-5 victory in the first set. The senior was then tested as Henry Ruger (Columbia) took the second set, 3-6. After falling behind 1-2 in the third, Sun did not let up another game for the remainder of the match, winning 6-2.
Columbia once again responded as Nicolas Kotzen (Columbia) won 4-6, 7-6 (6), 6-3 at the No. 6 position to put the Lions within a point of clinching the match. Down 3-2, the Crimson would need to win the final two outstanding matches to solidify the victory.
Henry von der Schulenburg found himself down, dropping the first set and the first few games of the second set. Using his veteran experience, von der Schulenburg battled back in the second set to win 7-5. Seemingly grabbing all momentum, the junior dominated the final set, 6-0, to secure his individual win and once again tie the match.
Andrew Rueb '95, The Scott Mead '77 Head Coach for Harvard Men's Tennis, The James Herscot '58 Coach of Excellence, said about von der Schuleburg's comeback victory, "Henry was down 7-5, 4-0 at the top spot and somehow battled back saving match point along the way in the second set and went on to win 6-0 in the third set against one of the best players in all of college tennis."
Competing to decide the match,
Ronan Jachuck and Hugo Hashimoto (Columbia) were in a battle at the No. 3 position. The two players split the first two sets with Jachuck falling 4-6 in the first and winning with relative ease in the second, 6-2. A back-and-forth final set was eventually taken to tiebreakers. Jachuck and Hashimoto traded points before Jachuck was able to pull ahead and win tiebreakers 7-5, clinching the Crimson win.
Rueb continued, "To see Ronan fight his way to the finish line and clinch the match in such a pressure packed moment was inspiring. Credit to him that he could trust his game in those big moments."
Following the team win Rueb concluded by saying "You don't get much closer than that! What an incredible college tennis match. Columbia is a terrific team and it took everything we had and then some to get over the finish line today. If you had told me we would have lost the doubles point and then proceeded to lose four of six first sets in singles and come out on top I would have told you you were crazy. Credit to our players and their determination to stay with it. I'm so proud of their heart." The Crimson leader finished by acknowledge the Harvard faithful that showed their support for the squad, "thanks to all our fans who came out in droves to support our team. It was an electric atmosphere with a packed house and it made for such a memorable match."
Harvard Highlights
- With the victory, Harvard moves to 17-5 for the 2023 spring season and 5-0 in Ivy League action. Dating back to last season, the Crimson have won their last 12 conference matches.
- Their 2-0 weekend against ranked foes puts Harvard at 9-5 overall against nationally ranked opponents for the spring.
- The Crimson move to 2-1 against the Lions this season alone. Harvard defeated Columbia 4-2 in the ITA Kickoff Weekend and fell 3-4 in the ECAC finals.
- Walker picked up his 14th win of the spring season, improving to 27-12 overall for his final campaign with the Crimson. The senior registered his 91st career Harvard win today.
- Jachuck and Walker both went 2-0 this weekend, contributing points to both the teams wins over No. 36 Cornell and No. 11 Columbia.
- Picking up wins against ranked players today, von der Schulenburg and Walker moved to 5-1 and 6-3, respectively, in singles matches against nationally ranked opponents.
- Sun closed out his Harvard career by picking up his 51st career victory and moving to 7-6 for the spring.
Results
Harvard – 4,
Columbia – 3
Doubles
- Theo Winegar/Michael Zheng (Columbia) def. No. 60 Daniel Milavsky/Harris Walker, 6-1
- Ronan Jachuck/Steven Sun vs. Nicolas Kotzen/Max Westphal (Columbia), DNF 6-5
- Alex Kotzen/Roko Horvat (Columbia) def. Henry von der Schulenburg/Alan Yim, 7-5
Order of finish: 1, 3
Singles
- No. 30 Henry von der Schulenburg def. No. 24 Michael Zheng (Columbia), 5-7, 7-5, 6-0
- No. 34 Harris Walker def. No. 108 Max Westphal (Columbia), 4-6, 6-0, 6-2
- No. 115 Ronan Jachuck def. Hugo Hashimoto (Columbia), 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (5)
- Alex Kotzen (Columbia) def. Daniel Milavsky, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5)
- Steven Sun def. Henry Ruger (Columbia), 7-5, 3-6, 6-2
- Nicolas Kotzen (Columbia) def. Valdemar Pape, 4-6, 7-6 (6), 6-3
Order of finish: 2, 4, 5, 6, 1, 3
Next Up
The Crimson will conclude their regular season on the road with one final Ivy weekend Saturday April 22 and Sunday April 23. Harvard will face No. 50 Penn and No. 53 Princeton as they look to go 7-0 in Ivy play for the second straight season.
