The No. 53 Columbia men’s tennis team will travel to Florida to take on the No. 22 Miami Hurricanes in the first round of the NCAA Men’s Tennis Tournament on May 8. The Lions (16-5, 6-1 Ivy) won the Ivy title for the second time in three seasons this year, dropping only one match to Brown in conference play. The Ivy League Championship gave Columbia an automatic bid into the tournament. The Hurricanes (17-8, 9-2 ACC) earned their spot with an at-large bid, as they failed to win the automatic berth after losing in the semi-finals of the ACC Tournament.
The Lions won the Ivy title in 2009 outright, in contrast to their most recent victory in 2007, when they shared the title with Penn. The Lions then beat the Quakers 4-1 at the Dick Savitt Tennis Center, clinching the right to represent the Ivy League in the NCAA tournament. The only holdovers from the 2007 championship team on this season’s roster are seniors Michael Bohnen, Jon Chan, Ruo Li and Jon Wong. Wong, the only starter out of the four, played No. 3 singles on the 2007 team and went undefeated in Ivy play including the playoff match.
This season, Wong has played primarily at No. 1 and 2 singles and has a dual match record of 12-7. Head coach Bid Goswami, now in his 27th season at the helm of the men’s tennis program at Columbia, was voted the Wilson/ITA Regional Coach of the Year in 2007, as voted by fellow coaches.
After winning the Ivy title two years ago, the Lions were defeated 4-0 by No. 2 Ohio State on the Buckeyes’ campus. Ohio State entered with a season record of 28-1 and had not lost any of their previous 55 dual matches at home. The Buckeyes won the doubles point by sweeping the Lions, including two wins from Top 50 doubles teams from Ohio State. They would go on to win three singles matches in straight sets for a 4-0 win. The meeting was the first between the two schools’ men’s tennis teams. The Buckeyes went on to advance to the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament, where they were upended 4-2 by eventual finalist Illinois.
The match marked the Lions’ first tournament appearance since 2001, when they split the title with Harvard as each team went 6-1 in conference play. The Lions would advance to beat out the Crimson for a spot in the NCAA tournament.
The Lions also won the Ivy title outright in 2000, when they went 7-0 in league play. Columbia entered the NCAA on a 12-match winning streak and matched up with No. 16 University of Minnesota, which defeated them 4-0 in first-round action. The Lions lost their captain Salil Seshadri, CC’ 00, to injury in the doubles point, but they could not overcome the Golden Gophers, who ended the Lions season. The Lions finished that season 17-6.
The Lions’ conference win this season represents the team’s seventh Ivy title under Bid Goswami. Goswami, who began his tenure in 1982, has led his team to 26 winning season as head coach.
The Hurricanes will be making their fourth consecutive tournament appearance under fifth-year head coach Mario Rincon. Miami has gone 3-3 in the NCAA Tournament under Rincon and has won eight of its past 10 matches this season.
The Ivy League has not had much success in the NCAA tournament as of late. Last season, Harvard went 7-0 in conference play and was ranked No. 51, but the Crimson lost to No. 17 Texas Tech 4-2 in the opening round. The Crimson got two wins in straight sets from a pair of freshmen, Alexei Chijoff-Evans and Aba Omodele-Lucien, but were unable to hang with the Red Raiders at the top of the lineup, which featured two of the top 125 players in the nation.
The last time an Ivy League team won an NCAA match was in 2004, when the No. 21 Crimson advanced to the Round of 16 by beating Quinnipiac and Tulsa. There the Crimson faced off against No. 1 overall seed and defending national champion Illinois. The Crimson came close to pulling off one of the greatest upsets in league history, but Illinois prevailed 4-3. Harvard lost the doubles point, but came back to tie it at 3-3 after winning three singles matches in straight sets. The match came down the No. 4 singles, but Harvard co-captain Cliff Nguyen was defeated in three sets, 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-2.
Two of the teams that beat the Lions this season, Radford and Texas Christian University are in the NCAA Tournament. No. 51Radford, who beat the Lions 4-0 earlier this spring, are scheduled to play No. 23 Duke. The No. 38 Frogs will take on No. 30 Tulsa in their first round matchup.
This year, the Lions are the only Ivy League team to appear in the NCAA tournament.