Last season, the Crimson had its hopes of an Ivy title effectively dashed by the Lions in New York. Harvard lost 4-3 on Columbia's clay courts last April, en route to a 5-2 Ivy record that kept the Crimson out of its usual berth in the NCAA Tournament.

This past weekend, though, the Harvard men were sure to avenge last year's close loss with an equally close win.

Harvard started the day strong by sweeping the doubles portion of the match from Columbia. Junior Dalibor Snyder and freshman Chris Chiou scored the first victory of the match at No. 3 doubles over Columbia's Mark Grae and Peter Holick, 8-5. Chiou was filling in for Snyder's usual partner, sophomore Oli Choo, and it marked the first time since October that Chiou and Dalibor have played together.

Crimson co-captain Anthony Barker and freshman George Turner combined for a solid 8-5 win in No. 1 doubles against the Lions' top combination of Akram Zaman and Pavel Jefferson. Freshman Mark Riddell and junior William Lee completed the doubles sweep by taking out Oscar Chow and Donny Opici at No. 2.

Facing a 1-0 deficit in the match, the Lions cranked up the intensity and stormed back in singles. Although both squads had three first set wins, the Lions were able to push two of Harvard's first set wins into a third set.

Harvard split the two matches that did not go into a third set. Freshman Ryan Browne, who was hobbled this week in practice due to an injury sustained over Spring Break, dispatched Jefferson, 7-5, 6-4, at No. 6. Despite a solid doubles victory earlier in the day, Lee fell to Zaman, 6-4, 7-6, at No. 2 singles.

Barker gave the Crimson a seemingly insurmountable 3-1 lead in the match by dismissing Holick, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 at No. 4. However, the Lions, far from rolling over, tried to claw back into contention at the No. 5 slot.