The men’s tennis team will take a break from competitive action this weekend with its Friends and Varsity Alumni match on Saturday, while the women’s team will look to return to its winning ways after being swept in a dual meet last weekend. For the men, this will be their last outing at the Dick Savitt Tennis Center before they embark on their spring break trip through Texas.

The Friends and Varsity Alumni match is a fun tradition that is not limited to former tennis standouts, according to head coach Bid Goswami.

“It does include former varsity players, but it also includes friends who didn’t play varsity tennis and some professors who come to watch our other matches,” he said. “Of course, there are some of the younger alums who want to beat up on the current varsity guys.”

Among the 20-to-25 players slated to appear at this year’s event, there are several noteworthy headliners. Oscar Chow, CC ’03, a former All-American and the brother of current senior co-captain Justin Chow, will be playing. Last year the elder Chow pushed current number-one singles player Mark Clemente to a third set. Steve Millerman, CC ’01, is scheduled to play as well. As a freshman, Millerman beat Harvard freshman James Blake, who has gone on to make the quarterfinals of two Grand Slams and has been ranked as high as number four in the world. Last season’s co-captains, Marty Moore and Paul Ratchford, will be at the event as well.

“Some of the younger guys think they can come right in here and dominate my guys, but we’ll see come Saturday,” Goswami said. “There will be some bragging rights on the line.”

In addition to the more recent graduates, some of the older alumni will represent the Columbia tennis team from before Coach Goswami’s 26-year tenure. Bob Kornreich, who played for the team in the early ’60s, will be there as well as John Venison, who currently runs the ATP senior tour with legendary tennis player Jim Courier.

In addition, Coach Goswami is scheduled to take part in the fun by playing recreational doubles. While he may not be as nimble and deft as he was during his days on the professional tour, Goswami will certainly bring his passion to the tennis courts come Saturday.

Meanwhile, the women’s tennis team will try to get back on a winning track on Saturday against Army. The young Black Knights will be led by freshman standout Anne Houghton, who was named Patriot League Player of the Month for the month of February. Houghton earned that award by working with three different teammates to go 5-4 in doubles as well as 7-1 in singles, which included two wins over regionally ranked opponents.

The Columbia team, 2-5 on the season, will be looking to rebound from two tough defeats at the hands of Penn State and West Virginia, where the Lions were severely shorthanded due to many players being ill. They had only four players compete against West Virginia and were forced to forfeit two of the singles matches and one of the doubles matches. There was still one bright spot for Columbia over the weekend. Freshman Stephanie Zilberman played fantastically at number-one singles, losing two incredibly close matches, one in a third set super tie-break and the other in a tight second set tie-break. Junior Nina Suda, who has played number one singles in all of the team’s other matches this season, will be looking to get her first win under her belt this weekend.

The men will play the Friends and Varsity Alumni Match at 1 p.m. at the Dick Savitt Tennis Center, while the women will travel to West Point, N.Y. to take on Army at noon.