PRINCETON, NJ – No. 10 Harvard Men's Tennis finished 7-0 in conference play for the second straight season by defeating No. 52 Princeton, 6-1. Yesterday, the Crimson claimed at least a share of the Ivy League Championship but with their win today are the outright conference champions.
Leading off with doubles, the Crimson and the Tigers traded wins at the No. 1 and 3 positions. No. 62
Daniel Milavsky and
Harris Walker registered their ninth win of the season by downing Bosancic/Short (Princeton), 6-3. After Princeton matched the Crimson result,
Steven Sun and
Ronan Jachuck delieved at the No. 2 position. As the other two doubles matches concluded, Sun and Jachuck were an even 4-4 with their competitors. Forging ahead to secure the doubles point for the Crimson, the duo won the next two games to take the match, 6-4.
Moving into singles the Crimson continued to pull ahead. Playing at the No. 4 position, Milavsky put another win on the board for Harvard, defeating Will Peters (Princeton) in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4.
Walker pulled the Crimson within a win of clinching the overall victory by winning 6-4, 6-3 at the No. 1 position. Shortly after, the Tigers got themselves on the board with a win at No. 3.
With two matches outstanding, Sun registered the third straight set win of the day for the Crimson by defeating Ellis Short (Princeton) 6-4, 6-3 to clinch the team victory.
In the final two matches of the day, the Crimson were able to blank the Tigers and pick up two additional wins to close out the regular season strong.
Valdemar Pape and
Henry von der Schulenburg both battled back in their respective matches after dropping the first set.
Following the win and the conclusion of the 2023 regular season
Andrew Rueb '95, The Scott Mead '77 Head Coach for Harvard Men's Tennis, The James Herscot '58 Coach of Excellence, praised his team's resilience throughout the season, "What an accomplishment by this team going back-to-back and earning undefeated Ivy titles. The league is so tough and to run the table is a huge challenge. It is not easy being favored and defending your title, but this group rose to the occasion. Rueb continued, speaking on the pair of seniors who played in their final regular season match today, "A special shout out to our seniors Harry walker and Steven sun. They have been our rock this year. We wouldn't be here without their leadership and dedication."
Harvard Highlights
- With the win the Crimson were crowned conference champions for the second straight season. This is the first back-to-back Ivy titles for the squad since 2012-2013.
- Harvard also finished 7-0 in league play in back-to-back years for the first time since 2003-2004.
- Through Ivy League play, Walker and Jachuck were unstoppable in singles play. The two Crimson players each went 6-1 throughout conference action.
- Following close behind, von der Schulenburg, Milavsky, and Pape all went 5-1 in Ivy singles matches.
- Walker, Milavsky, and Pape all went a perfect 2-0 in singles play to help lead the Crimson in a 2-0 weekend.
- With the win, the Crimson grow their lead to 61-46 in the all-time series against the Tigers. Harvard has now won the last seven matchups between the two squads.
Results
Doubles
- Daniel Milavsky/Harris Walker def. Thomas Bosancic/Ellis Short (Princeton), 6-3
- Ronan Jachuck/Steven Sun def. Filippos Astreinidis/Top Nidunjianzan (Princeton), 6-4
- Alan Kam/Sebastian Sec (Princeton) def. David Lins/Alan Yim, 6-3
Order of finish: 1, 3, 2
Singles
- No. 35 Harris Walker def. No. 113 Top Nidunjianzan (Princeton), 6-4, 6-3
- No. 27 Henry von der Schulenburg def. Thomas Bosancic (Princeton), 0-6, 6-4, 7-5
- Sebastian Sec (Princeton) def. Ronan Jachuck, 6-3, 6-4
- Daniel Milavsky def. Will Peters (Princeton), 6-2, 6-4
- Steven Sun def. Ellis Short (Princeton), 6-4, 6-3
- Valdemar Pape def. Matthew Bosancic (Princeton), 5-7, 6-3, 1-0 (6)
Order of finish: 4, 1, 3, 5, 6, 2
Next Up
With the win the Crimson have clinched their spot in the 2023 NCAA tournament and will begin regionals play in two weekends on May 5 through May 7.
