Though the Harvard men’s tennis team was no longer in the hunt for the Ivy League title, this weekend it settled for the next best thing: taking it away from Yale.
The Crimson (13-10, 4-2 Ivy) had back-to-back victories, defeating Brown (10-14, 0-5) on Friday and the Bulldogs (15-8, 4-2) yesterday.
“We did not want Yale to win [the Ivy League championship] on our home court,” junior Aba Omodele-Lucien said. “We were going to do anything we could to win.”
HARVARD 4, YALE 3
The Crimson finished the weekend with a grueling victory over Yale in the Murr Center.
Harvard started off by capturing the doubles point in what has almost become a routine for the Crimson.
“We came out hot again in doubles,” said Omodele-Lucien, who teamed up with freshman Christo Schultz to win at the No. 1 spot, 8-3. “[The No. 2 team] pulled out some clutch shots as well.”
The No. 2 pairing of sophomore Alistair Felton and freshman Andy Nguyen won by a score of 8-6, while the No. 3 team fell to the Bulldogs, 8-3.
Up 1-0, Harvard moved into singles play. The first to finish was Felton at No. 6, who made quick work of his opponent, 6-1, 6-3.
Schultz followed soon with a 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 4, as Nguyen lost his match, 6-4, 6-4, at No. 5.
“Christo did a great job today at No. 4,” Crimson coach Dave Fish ’77 said. “That was a huge one. And Ali was going right after the jugular [at No. 6].”
That left the top three matches to play, with a 3-1 advantage for Harvard. But Yale was far from quitting, and fought each remaining match into the third set.
After long battles on all three courts, No. 3 Omodele-Lucien’s 6-3 victory in the deciding set broke the stalemate and secured the win for Harvard.
“I started off pretty slow, but I was able to come back and stay stronger than him,” Omodele-Lucien said. “I was just happy that I was able to clinch.”
“Aba really kept himself together today,” Fish added.
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