The men’s tennis team will stay home this weekend and take on two nonconference foes, Binghamton and Stony Brook. The Lions (6-2) are coming off a weekend sweep of St. John’s and Fairleigh Dickinson, and are in the midst of a five-match home streak.
Binghamton enters the match with a 5-2 record this spring, but is coming off a loss to No. 60 ranked Minnesota. In that match, senior Moshe Levy got the only point for the Bearcats, winning at No. 1 singles in three sets. Last season, Columbia played Binghamton in its first dual match of the season and notched a 4-3 win, in which Levy beat senior Justin Chow at No. 3 singles in three sets. This season, Levy is 2-5 at No. 1 singles for Binghamton. Behind Levy is a deep and talented roster, which includes freshman Gilbert Wong at No. 4 singles. Wong is 20-5 on the season, including 6-1 in dual matches, his only loss coming against nationally ranked University of Minnesota. Wong and sophomore Sven Vloedgraven team up to play No. 1 doubles for the Bearcats.
Binghamton has played two other Ivy teams this season, beating Dartmouth 4-3 and losing to Cornell 5-2. The highlight of the Bearcats’ season thus far was a win over No. 53 ranked Drake by a score of 5-2. The win was the program’s first-ever win over a ranked team, as the Bearcats captured the doubles point by winning first and second doubles, and then went on to dominate the singles, with wins at No. 2, 3, 4, and 5.
Stony Brook also comes in with a record of 3-2 this spring and 5-2 overall, its losses coming at the hands of South Carolina Upstate and Yale in the team’s opening tournament of the season. The Seawolves seem to have put those early setbacks behind them, winning consecutive games against UConn and Army. Hungarian sophomore Ivan Rummel leads Stony Brook into the weekend. As a freshman, Rummel had a good season going 5-1 at No. 2 singles and 15-9 overall on the year. Rummel has not been affected by a sophomore slump, rising up to No. 1 on the team.
The Lions will host Binghamton at 2 p.m. on Friday and Stony Brook at 10 a.m. on Saturday. Both matches will be played at the Dick Savitt Tennis Center.