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Men's Tennis Remains Unbeaten in Conference

The Harvard men’s tennis team put its nine-match winning streak on the line this weekend when it went on the road to face Ivy League foes No. 50 Princeton and Penn. By Sunday evening, the No. 19 Crimson (16-4, 4-0 Ivy) had extended its streak to 11 matches and improved its record in conference play to 4-0.

Harvard now sits atop the conference as it continues its bid to repeat as Ivy League champions.

Senior co-captain Andy Nguyen explained the different challenge playing on the road presents.

“It’s always a little different traveling on the road,” Nguyen said. “All of the matches are really hard fought. Princeton brought out a really large crowd and it was very rowdy. With crowds like that, it feels even better to fight and end up with a win.”

HARVARD 4, PENN 3

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On Sunday, the Crimson completed its weekend road sweep by taking down the Quakers (9-9, 1-4 Ivy), 4-3, at the Hamlin Tennis Center in a match that was as tightly contested as the final score indicated.

Harvard’s No. 2 doubles team of freshman Nicky Hu and senior Andy Nguyen lost, 8-5, but sophomore Alex Steinroeder and freshman Kelvin Lam made up for the loss with an 8-5 win on the third court. The doubles point was decided on the first court, where junior co-captain Casey MacMaster and sophomore Denis Nguyen won in a tiebreaker after being down, 6-2.

The Crimson extended its lead to 2-0 after Andy Nguyen ran his record at fourth singles to 12-2 with a 6-2, 6-1 win. Denis Nguyen took a 6-3, 6-4 victory at No. 1 singles to give Harvard a comfortable, 3-0, margin.

Andy Nguyen chalked up his success this season to increased motivation.

“It’s my senior year, and I really want to win an Ivy Championship,” he said. “So I am trying my hardest.”

Freshman Nicholas Mahlangu, playing because Hu suffered a sprained ankle, lost, 7-5,7-5, in the fifth slot, but sophomore Shaun Chaudhuri won in three sets at No. 2 to give the Crimson the clinching fourth point.

After Harvard earned victory, Lam and Steinroeder both lost in three sets for the final 4-3 margin.

“It was a dogfight today,” Crimson coach Dave Fish said. “We were fortunate to come away with the doubles point, which was huge. Sunday’s matches were just very nervy and heavily contested.”

HARVARD 5, PRINCETON 2

Saturday’s matchup pitted the Ivy League’s last two unbeaten teams against each other, with the Crimson at 2-0 after last weekend’s home sweep of Columbia and Cornell and the Tigers at 3-0. By the end of the day, Harvard stood alone after taking down Princeton (15-5, 4-1 Ivy), 5-2, on its home courts at the Lenz Tennis Center.

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