“Those were two great players,” Fish said. “[Vloedgraven] was just tougher and refused to miss around the edges of the court. They were both just battling side to side. [Vloedgraven] was just more tenacious not to give up that edge at all.”

Shultz went on to win at the No. 6 singles slot, defeating Binghamton’s Ruben Devos 6-2, 6-4. Shultz used a big serve and fast forehand to overpower Devos from the outset of the match.

“Christo played great out there,” Fish said.

Freshman Andy Nguyen fell to Gilbert Wong 6-3, 6-4 at the No. 3 singles spot.

With the Crimson and the Bearcats tied at 3-3, all eyes turned to the decisive No. 4 singles match. Felton won the first set for Harvard at 6-4. But Arnav Jain bounced back, winning the second set 6-3, and Felton could not recover his momentum, falling in a gritty final set, 6-4.

“Ali played great for half of the match,” Fish said. “And then got a little bit confused with his game style and didn’t continue doing what had gotten him the first set. So he began to erode a little bit.”

Binghamton came into the match boasting a 6-1 record against Ivy League opponents, with Columbia being its only loss.

“We knew in the back of our heads going in that it was going to be a really tough team to play against,” Tchan said.

“Right up through the line-up we know we were in a dog fight,” Fish said. “They took it to us. Good young coach—he’s recruited a great bunch of kids, and he beat us.”

The match served as a final tune-up for the squad, which commences Ivy League play against Columbia on Friday.

“In some ways we had to use [the Binghamton match] to get the rust off,” Fish said. “[Hopefully] we polish a little more rust off, and play a little bit better on Friday.”