From there, the duo cruised to a 7-0 win in the tiebreak, and the Crimson headed into singles with the doubles point.

“When guys weren’t playing well this weekend, they still showed a lot of poise,” Steinroeder said. “In doubles especially, Denis and Brian came out big to win doubles in a tiebreak, and that’s a big confidence boost going into singles.”

Princeton evened the match when Steinroeder went down quickly, 6-1, 6-1, but Hu countered with a 7-6(5), 6-3 win. When Beltrame followed with a three-set win a few minutes later, Harvard sat one point from victory. Solomon fell on the sixth court, but Nguyen’s comeback victory over the Tigers’ Zack McCourt, 3-6, 7-5, 6-4, sent the Crimson to the final.

HARVARD 4, YALE 0

In Harvard’s first-round matchup, the Crimson provided rival Yale with a Valentine’s Day gift in the form of a 4-0 beatdown.

The Crimson gained the upper hand early, as Hu and Beltrame won, 6-4, and Nguyen and Yeung took their match in a tiebreak.

In singles, Solomon cruised to a 6-4, 6-0 win, and Chaudhuri gave Harvard the 3-0 advantage with a 6-4, 6-2 victory on court six.

Steinroeder clinched the win with a 6-4, 6-4 triumph on the third court, and the match was over—under two hours after it started.

While the squad was happy to pick up three wins over conference opponents, fifteenth-ranked Lions’ absence still stood out.

“We obviously are aware that Columbia wasn’t here,” Chaudhuri noted. “We continue to push each other and can pat ourselves on the back for a good weekend, but they remain a big threat.”

But the season is long, and for now, the Crimson has positioned itself well heading into matches against ranked opponents Minnesota and Vanderbilt this weekend.

“These are chances to see how we stack up nationally,” Steinroeder said. “We can see how we’re doing at the halfway point. If we can come away with wins, that’ll be really big.”

—Staff writer Justin C. Wong can be reached at justin.wong@thecrimson.com