The Harvard men's tennis team learned that it's going to be a little bit tougher this Ivy League season.

Last year, the Crimson ripped through the Ivies, going undefeated, even blanking Cornell, Brown, Penn and Dartmouth, 7-0. Of course, that was with star James Blake, who is now competing alongside Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi.

Harvard went into this weekend, however, as an underdog against red-hot Columbia and nationally ranked Cornell. Dropping an extremely close 4-3 decision on Friday against the Lions, the Crimson rebounded the next afternoon, taking out the Big Red 4-3.

Harvard 4, Cornell 3

After making the long trip from New York City and arriving in Ithaca at 2:00 a.m., the Crimson hit the courts at noon to take on Cornell. The Big Red (11-5, 1-2 Ivy) were ranked No. 74 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) rankings, two spots below the Crimson.

The doubles teams hit the courts first. With junior Mike Rich unable to play due to a death in the family, Harvard experimented with the No. 3 team of junior Anthony Barker and sophomore William Lee. The duo lost, 9-7, but Harvard was able to get the doubles point by winning at Nos. 1 and 2. Co-captain John Doran and sophomore Cillie Swart won 8-6 at the top spot, while freshman Dave Lingman and the other co-captain, Joe Green, won 9-7.

In the singles, Barker finished up his match first at No. 5, defeating Mike Mestel 7-5, 6-3. Lingman then beat Joe Chrisman, 6-4, 7-5, at No. 2 to give Harvard a 3-0 lead. The spectators at Reis Tennis Center then turned their attention to No. 6, where Swart was battling Carl Thorsen. Swart saved three set points during a first-set tiebreaker, then easily won the second for a 7-6 (8), 6-3 win and a Harvard victory.

Columbia 4, Harvard 3

Playing in Columbia is always a humbling and odd experience. The only team in the country to play its home games on clay, Columbia also plays in the close confines of "the Bubble," which has only four courts as opposed to the customary six.

Despite having defeated Columbia in the fall in the finals of the ECAC fall tournament, the Crimson (10-10, 1-1) went into the match as an underdog. The Lions (12-5, 2-0) were in the midst of a six-game winning streak, and the match, just like in the fall, came down to the wire.

The doubles could have gone either way. Doran and Swart lost 8-5 at No. 1, while Green won at No. 2 by the same margin. At No. 3, Lee and Rich took on the Lion duo of Steve Millerman and Danny Opici. The Crimson team kept it close but lost 8-5, and Columbia got the doubles point.

Since the Bubble only had four courts, only the top four singles matches were able to go on first. Green, playing at No. 3, finished first, easily beating Salil Seshadri 6-1, 6-3. The win was a good win, as the two had faced off in the fall at No. 1, with Seshadri winning. Lingman then finished off Millerman, also a former No. 1 player, 6-3, 7-6 to give Harvard a 2-1 lead. Doran swept Akram Zaman 6-4, 7-5. Lee, at No. 4, got off to a slow start in both sets and never was in his match, losing 6-2, 7-5.

The result of the dual meet rested on the Nos. 5 and 6 matches. Freshman Ki-teh Kim, playing in only his second dual match of the season, got trounced, 6-1, 6-0. At No. 5, Barker was playing Oscar Chow in the deciding match. After splitting the first two sets, Barker was up a break, 2-1, in the third when he starting cramping in his right leg. The problem was minor, but it was enough for Chow to get an opening. He got on a roll and went up 5-3. Barker staved off three match points, and held off four more in the final game before falling 6-4 in the third set.

"The cramp made him run at maybe 95 percent as opposed to 100," Harvard Assistant Coach Peter Mandeau said. "It was a good effort."

The split on the weekend meant the Crimson lost its first Ivy match in two years. It also proves that trying to defend the Ivy title won't be easy.

"Last year, we could win some matches strictly on talent," Mandeau said. "With our youth and inexperience, none of the Ivy matches will come easy."

Harvard continues its Ivy hunt this weekend at home, taking on Princeton Friday and Penn Sunday. On Sunday before the match, Harvard will inaugurate the Beren Tennis Center, the new 18-court outdoor tennis complex.