Having clinched its fifth-straight Ivy League title with a 6-1 win over Yale last weekend, the men's tennis team traveled to New Hampshire yesterday looking to keep its league record perfect against its final regular-season opponent, Dartmouth.
With a No. 17 ranking, a perfect record in the month of April and the league trophy already behind glass, the men's tennis team swaggered into the scenic college town and took advantage of its pressure-free status in a 7-0 domination.
In a clash of subdued tones, the Crimson (20-4, 7-0 Ivy) won two of the three doubles matches and swept the singles matches on its way to blanking the Big Green (10-7, 3-4).
Junior Joe Green and sophomore Scott Clark, playing at the No. 3 doubles position, struck first, defeating their verdant counterparts, 8-2.
At No. 2, co-captain Mike Passarella and junior John Doran teamed up again after last weekend's successful outings against Brown and Yale but fell short in the Crimson's only loss of the day, 8-4.
Harvard's season-long No. 1 duo of co-captain Kunj Majmudar and James Blake clinched the doubles point with an 8-6 win.
The match was Majmudar's first after missing both matches during this past league-clinching weekend due to illness, and the duo showed that it had lost little of what makes it the No. 2 doubles team in the country after a short time apart.
At singles, Blake made a strong defense of his No. 1 national ranking, a place he has held since December of last year. The sophomore cruised, 6-0, 6-0.
Almost as perfect at No. 2, junior John Doran regained his winning touch with a quick 6-1, 6-1 victory. Doran had won 13 straight matches in dual-meet play before losing last weekend against Yale.
Doran's sustained strong play has elevated him into the top 100 in the nation, and he now holds the No. 93 spot.
Freshman William Lee provided another impressive win at the No. 6 slot, mimicking the quick work of his teammates at the top of the line-up with a 6-2, 6-2 triumph.
Lee has been solid in the bottom half of the Crimson juggernaut for most of the Ivy League season. Against Brown and Yale, Lee dispensed of his opposition in straight sets, including a league-clinching win against Yale while playing up at the No. 5 position.
At the No. 3 and 5 positions, Harvard took a little more time but ended up on top. Playing at No. 3, Green jumped out to an early lead but dropped the second set in 12 games. With the score leveled at a set apiece, Green had had enough. The Irishman stormed past his opponent in the third to win, 6-4, 5-7, 6-1.
Passarella went about his win with a different approach. After capturing the first set, 6-1, the fiery senior dropped the second, 7-5, and battled through the third to triumph in a tiebreaker and complete the sweep.
The Crimson now has two weeks off before it travels to the NCAA regional championships at a sight to be announced in the next couple of weeks.
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