{shortcode-aaf48766bf06505c33cc238539c50fef423e73f1}

Kicking off the weekend with two decisive doubleheader wins against Virginia Tech and local rival Boston University, the Crimson appeared undefeatable.

This weekend, the No. 13 Harvard men’s tennis team put on a show in Cambridge, Mass. welcoming ACC foes No. 75 Virginia Tech and defending national champion No. 8 Virginia, alongside Boston University, for a three-day matchup at the Beren Tennis Center.

After an uncommon scheduling year with most matches on the road, head coach Andrew Rueb was glad to have the team playing at home for the first time this season.

“It means so much to the team to play in front of supporters and friends and community. On Sunday against [the University of] Virginia, we had at least 300 people there—the stadium was packed and the energy was electric,” Rueb said. “There’s nothing like playing in front of that kind of crowd. It makes the tennis experience so exciting and really gratifying to get to play in front of a partisan home crowd.”

Excited to finally be playing in Cambridge again was co-captain Harris Walker, who also expressed the value of matches away from home.

“It was good to get that experience of being with opposing crowds and playing on courts different than what we’re used to—we had that under our belt coming into this weekend,” Walker said.

This weekend’s matches came following a strong 4-1 showing at the Ed Collins Spring Classic in San Diego, Calif. held over spring break, which included an impressive victory over No. 36 Virginia Commonwealth University.

HARVARD 4, VIRGINIA TECH 0

Harvard entered the doubleheader against Virginia Tech and Boston University with a 10-4 road and neutral side record, and by the end of Saturday, swept both opponents to improve 12-4 on the year.

Opening against No. 75 Virginia Tech on Friday, the Crimson clinched an overall 4-0 win, propelled by doubles points at No. 2 and No. 3 positions early in the matchup. Winning 6-3, No. 2 duo junior Ronan Jachuck and senior Steven Sun picked up their eleventh win of the year as No. 3 pair co-captain junior Henry von der Schulenberg and junior Alan Yim prevailed in tiebreakers, ultimately securing the doubles point in a hard-fought 7-6(1) doubles battle.

“People think it’s only one point, but doubles can really change the dynamics of the match. From the first point [of the tiebreak], we made sure we were there and won the tiebreak pretty easily,” said von Schulenlenberg as he discussed the tense plays of a tiebreak. “It was important to use the crowd in big moments and bring some energy onto the courts,” he added.

Harvard carried this strong momentum into singles, which saw No. 4 position and nationally-ranked No. 112 Jachuck defeat his opponent 6-4, 7-5 in straight sets, elevating the Crimson to a 2-0 lead. The Boca Raton, Fla. native’s convincing victory was paralleled by the No. 2 position von der Schulenburg, whose similarly decisive 6-4, 7-5 win brought Harvard within one point of clinching the matchup.

Ultimately, Harvard’s win was secured by No.1 position Walker in a thrilling triple-setter, who fought back from dropping the first set 2-6, dominating the second and third sets 6-2 and 6-0 respectively to take the match. Senior Harris Walker’s victory also brought his wins to 10-3, making him Harvard’s first player to reach double-digit wins for the spring season.

Walker cites focus and self-reflection as essential for keeping composure in the moment of being one set down.

“I had to completely adjust my game and be a lot more consistent, a lot more solid, and glad to have gotten that win,” he said. “It was a tough day—windy, cold, and it wasn’t conducive to anyone’s best tennis but I was glad to have kept my composure and gotten us the win.”

HARVARD 6, BOSTON UNIVERSITY 0

The Crimson then proceeded to take on Harvard’s neighbor Boston University on Saturday, this time indoors at the Murr Tennis Center. Despite losing the No. 1 position doubles game, Harvard secured the doubles point due to wins by No. 2 duo first-year Valdemar Pape and senior Harris Walker as well as No. 3 duo sophomore David Lins and Yim with the scores, 6-4 and 6-2 respectively.

The winning streak continued into the singles, with the Crimson sweeping all five of its completed matches in straight sets. Pape, who played at the No. 2 position for the first time in his young collegiate career, dominated his match in straight sets at 6-3, 7-6(5). Alongside his doubles win, Yim represented Crimson at the No. 3 position and downed his opponent 6-2, 6-1, dropping the least number of games of any Crimson player in singles. Additionally, Lins and first-years Masato Perera and Marc Ktiri all claimed their first wins of the season against their Terrier opponents. Perera and Ktiri, who shared the same scoreline of 6-2, 6-2, picked up their first collegiate wins of the dual season with convincing victories over their opponents.

For Pape, this doubleheader was particularly memorable as it marked the first-ever home game of his collegiate career.

“I think it is always tough to play a team when we are considered the favorites and they have everything to win. As a team, we did well to keep playing our game and got the win,” Pape commented. “For me, I think I fought well and played a good double. For the single, I was tired after a long day but I kept playing and in the end, I got the win.”

Coach Rueb was proud of the team’s performance in the doubleheader, citing it as a full-team win.

“We probably had eleven or 12 players competing when we played against Virginia Tech and BU, so everybody got a chance to contribute, improve and show off all the work that they’ve been putting in,” Rueb said. “It’s nice to do those doubleheaders because it advances the ball for the whole team. There were very good performances all around and very strong matches.”

HARVARD 2, VIRGINIA 5

On Sunday, Harvard faced its biggest challenge of the regular season so far: a match-up against reigning national champions, No. 8 University of Virginia (UVA). Backed by an enthusiastic and 300-some home crowd, the Crimson started the match on its best footing. In the doubles matches, No. 1 position duo sophomore Daniel Milavsky and Haris Walker and No. 2 duo Jachuck and Sun won their matches with the same scoreline, 6-4, to bring the doubles point home.

For von der Schulenburg representing the Crimson in the No. 2 doubles match, he faced his very own younger brother, junior Jeffrey von der Schulenburg of UVA. According to von der Schulenburg, the brothers have practiced together since they were little kids.

“I was probably a little more nervous because my friends and family were watching. You don’t want to lose to your younger brother and embarrass yourself in front of everyone,” von der Schulenburg laughed.

While the Crimson’s doubles point had already been secured and the game in which the brothers faced off did not end up finishing, von der Schulenburg jested that this may have been for the better. “It was probably best for my parents that there was no winner,” he quipped.

Nevertheless, unlike the doubleheader, Harvard’s winning momentum could not be carried to Sunday’s six singles matches, where UVA won five of the six games with three narrowly tied at 5-5 in the second sets.

The Crimson players fought hard, including von der Schulenburg who only inclined after a tense tie-break in the second set against UVA’s No. 18 Chris Rodesch with a 6-2, 7-6 (5) result, Jachuck, who lost 6-4, 7-5 to No. 101 Ryan Goetz, as well as Milavsky who went down 6-4, 7-5 against No. 35 Jeffrey von der Schulenburg. The only Harvard singles win came from Yim, who defeated Virginia’s Alexander Kiefer in a resounding 6-2, 6-4 victory.

Coach Rueb reflected on points of improvement from the matchup. “Good teams find ways to win big points and we had opportunities, and even set points, to win,” he said. “That just shows you how those margins are very thin and it’s just a couple of points that make the difference. I think everybody left feeling like there were some points we left on the table and we could have done better.”

This sentiment was shared by Walker. “Against a team of that caliber, it’s not like we’re expecting to win. But we certainly have to believe we can win.”

Walker is confident in the Crimson’s ability to put on a fight against highly-ranked teams.

“We’ve put in the work and we’ve proven that we can be on the court with anyone. We know we can hang with any team—it’s just a matter of who executes and who plays the big points better. It’s about having the belief, having the confidence to go after the shots when it counts,” he said.

UP NEXT: HARVARD VS. DARTMOUTH

This weekend marked the end of non-conference play for the Crimson. The team will now concentrate on winning the Ivy League title, starting their campaign this weekend with a trip up North to Dartmouth College.

Harvard will play matchups with other Ivy League universities until April 23. Beyond that, there is also the prospect of the NCAA championships held in May.

Coach Rueb looks forward to the team’s progress over the next few weekends.

“It will be fascinating to see how this season goes—we’ve done a lot of great preparation. I think the guys can really lean on and trust the training they’ve done for the upcoming Ivy season,” he said.

“We’ve seen very strong teams this year and played a very robust national schedule,” the head coach continued. “That’s been a big help for us in not only achieving a high national ranking but also setting us up to go as far as we can in the NCAA tournament.”

Coach Rueb also aims to continue bringing out a large home crowd for the players, since “that crowd is really important to helping us [Harvard] get over the finish line.”