The men’s tennis team will kick off its 2010 spring season at home tomorrow, as it begins nonconference play against Boston College. The Lions, the defending Ivy League champions, enter this season with a roster laden with senior talent, and once again hope to finish at the top of the Ancient Eight.
This match will be the Lions’ first dual match of the season, as all of the matches during the fall season were individual tournaments. The Lions had mixed results in the fall, as senior Jon Wong and sophomore Haig Schneiderman posted solid results, but fellow sophomore Ekin Sezgen and senior Mihai Nichifor struggled until putting together a solid run at the ITA Regional Championships.
Wong enters the spring ranked No. 2 in the region in singles and is the highest ranked singles Ivy League player. Nichifor joins Wong in the top ten, as he enters the nonconference portion of the season ranked No. 7 in the region. The Lions are the only team with two players ranked in the top ten in singles.
In addition to the seniors, Schneiderman, the reigning Ivy League Rookie of the Year, had a terrific fall season, which catapulted him to the top of the northeast rankings. Schneiderman enters the spring ranked No. 14 in the region.
The highest ranked Boston College singles player is Thomas Nolan, who comes in just ahead of Schneiderman in the rankings at No. 13. Nolan is the only Eagle in the top 20 in singles. Nolan advanced to the round of 16 in the ITA Regional Championships, the farthest out of any of the Boston College players in singles, but lost to the eventual finalist in straight sets.
The Eagles had better success in doubles, as they entered the tournaments with the top overall seed with Thomas Nolan and Erik Kreutzer, although the duo lost in the round of 16 at Regionals when one of the members was forced to retire with an injury.
Yet, the Eagles currently dominate the regions doubles rankings, as Nolan and Kreutzer are ranked No. 2 in the region, and the duo of Muppidi and Schroeder is ranked No. 4 in the region. In addition to being ranked No. 2 in the region, Nolan and Kreutzer are the highest ranked Northeast team in the nation, coming in at No. 27 nationally. The pair attained that ranking due in large part to a stunning upset of the No. 10 team in the nation from the University of Louisville at the All-American Championships in October. The Boston College duo defeated the Cardinal team by a score of 8-5.
The Lions defeated the Eagles by a score of 5-0 when they met last season at the Eastern Conference Athletic Championships in the first round. Columbia won the doubles point, although two of the three matches were very close. The Lions quickly won four points in singles, as they won at No. 2, 3, 4, and 6 singles. Then junior Jon Wong was locked in a tight battle with Nolan at No. 1 singles, and was leading 5-4 in the third set when their match was halted.
This match will be the first chance for Columbia’s three freshmen to play in dual matches, and there is a good chance that they will see action in both singles and doubles.
The match is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. on Saturday at the Dick Savitt Tennis Center in New York.
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