Lions to battle Hurricanes in NCAA tournament

The men’s tennis team will travel down to Gainseville on May 8 to take on No. 22 University of Miami in the first round of the 2009 NCAA Division I Men’s Tennis Championships. The No. 53 Lions got the automatic berth after winning the Ivy League for the second time in three years, while the Hurricanes got into the tournament via an at-large bid, finishing second in the powerhouse ACC. The winner of the match will take on the winner of Marist and No. 10 Florida on May 9.

“We will be playing right in the midst of reading period,” head coach Bid Goswami said. “Some of them even have exams on Wednesday and I have to proctor a test on Friday right before the match. It’s not the best of circumstances, and not playing for three weeks [since their final match against Princeton] doesn’t help either. The focus is not that good, unfortunately. We will give it our best shot—I know the boys want to do well. The preparation unfortunately is not what I would like before going to play nationals.

“I told the guys that their academics are their No. 1 priority,” said Goswami, “and tennis is 1a. Not 2, but still. They gave me their best effort till we won the Ivy, and it’s taken a bit of a backstage now for the time being.”

The Lions (16-5, 6-1 Ivy) will be capping off a tremendous season which saw them dominate in the fall and continue their stellar play into the spring season. In the fall, senior Bogdan Borta qualified for the Intercollegiate Tennis Association National Men’s Team Indoor Championships by advancing all the way to the finals of the ITA Regional Championships, where he lost in three tight sets to Chris Clayton of Harvard. In addition, junior Jon Wong won the Princeton Invitational, and junior Mihai Nichifor won the “A” Flight of the Columbia Classic.

The Lions went 6-1 in Ivy play. They beat Harvard in a crucial 4-3 victory where the Lions got wins from No. 3 through 6 singles—including wins by three freshmen. Columbia suffered its only defeat to Brown, but rallied to win the title outright when Brown stumbled down the stretch, losing three of its last four.

The Lions are led by Borta, who went 4-3 in Ivy play at No. 1 and 2 singles. Wong went 3-3 in Ivy play and Nichifor went 7-0 in Ivy play at No. 3 singles. Haig Schneiderman was named Ivy League Rookie of the Year, as he went 6-1 in conference play, splitting time between No. 4 and 5 singles. Borta was named first team all-Ivy for his singles play, and Wong and Nichifor were named second team all-Ivy for their singles play as well.

One factor for the Lions will be the weather. Columbia will be playing their second outdoor match since spring break, and it will be their first time outdoors in the Florida heat.

“We will practice on Thursday in Miami,” said Goswami. “Miami is a good team, but it’s a good draw. If we had played them during the regular season at home, I think we would have a shot. I think we will give it our best effort, and we have to play well to do well.”

The Hurricanes will be appearing in their fourth straight NCAA tournament. They are led by fifth-year head coach Mario Rincon, who carries a 3-3 career tournament record. Miami went 9-2 in the ACC, and finished in second place during the regular season in a conference which is sending seven teams to the NCAA.

“I have not had the opportunity to see Columbia play recently,” said Rincon, “but I have known coach Goswami for many years. Every year he puts together a really good team and he has been very successful. Having won the Ivy League seven times, he is obviously doing a great job with the team.”

The doubles point will be crucial to the outcome of the match. The Hurricanes have the No. 44 doubles team in the nation with Daniel Vallverdu and David Rosenfeld. The duo has gone 8-4 this season. Columbia’s top team of Borta and Nichifor has gone 10-7 this play at No. 1 doubles.

“I know their doubles are really strong,” continued Rincon.

The Hurricanes are led by Vallverdu, who is ranked No. 12 in the nation in singles and was invited to the NCAA Singles Tournament for the third straight year. Vallverdu is a four-time all-American and four-time all-ACC selection.

“I was looking at their records, and No. 3 singles could also be a really tough match for us,” said Rincon. “We’re looking forward to a really good match against them.”

Rincon has set lofty goals for his talented squad this season.

“We want to make it to the Sweet 16,” he said. “To get there we would have to win a pair of really tough matches. At that point, we would create a new set of goals for the rest of the tournament. But going into the tournament, that is our goal.”

The match is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. in Gainesville, Fla.