Lions singles players struggle at USTA/ITA Northeast Regional while doubles send two pairs to quarterfinals

At the USTA/ITA Northeast Regional held in Ithaca, N.Y., the Columbia men’s tennis team did not send any singles player to the quarterfinal round, with only one player moving beyond the round of 32. In doubles play, however, the Lions got two pairs to the quarterfinals.

There were many strong opponents, which was expected going into the tournament. Freshman Winston Lin, who had been garnered a series of strong wins this fall, bore the brunt of that opposition. After taking down sophomore Will Reznek from Marist 6-3, 6-1, Lin—seeded 16th—fell to Cornell sophomore Venkat Iyer—seeded 12th—who went on to win the championship.

Senior captain Haig Schneiderman also suffered a loss after his match against Big Green sophomore Cameron Ghorbani. The only Lion who managed to go beyond the round of 32 was junior Nate Gery. Gery was then defeated by Xander Centenari, who was seeded fourth.

Monday was a better day for the Light Blue. The doubles teams brought more wins to the Lions as the freshmen pair, Ashok Narayana and Max Schnur, along with Lin and Schneiderman advanced to the quarterfinals. Unfortunately for Columbia, both were defeated by pairs from Binghamton and Princeton respectively in the following round. Sophomore Tizian Butcher and Gery, who were seeded ninth in the doubles competition, fell to second-seed Daniel Hoffman and Mark Powers from Yale in the round of 16.

The ITA Northeast Regional marked the end of the team’s tournaments in October. The Lions will play their final tournament of the fall season, the National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships, from Nov. 3 to 6 in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.