Three Lions Make All-Ivy Tennis Team

The Columbia men’s tennis team found itself well-represented on the All-Ivy squad, with sophomore Jon Wong making first-team All-Ivy and senior Mark Clemente and junior Bogdan Borta earning second-team All-Ivy nominations. In addition, Borta and Wong made second-team All-Ivy in doubles.

The nominations were voted on by the eight head coaches in the Ivy League. Wong, who was voted Ivy League Rookie of the Year as well as second-team All-Ivy last season, went 3-3 for the Lions at number one singles, and 1-0 at number two singles. Wong was the only sophomore to make first-team All-Ivy out of the six players selected. His stellar sophomore campaign came on the heels of a freshman season which saw him go undefeated at the number three singles spot for the Lions in Ivy League play.

Borta, a junior transfer from Manhattan College, went undefeated at number three singles in his first season in the Ivy League. Clemente went 3-4 overall, with a win at number one singles as well.

Clemente, who battled a painful knee injury all season still managed to provide the Lions with a dramatic win in their first Ivy League match against in-state rival Cornell. Clemente won a tight three-set match at number two singles and provided the win that gave Columbia a 4-3 win.

Borta and Wong proved a solid doubles team for the Lions as they went 6-0 overall in the Ivy League, including a sparkling 5-0 record at number two doubles. The duo was not put together until early in the Ivy season as Borta had success with senior Justin Chow earlier in the fall, reaching the National Men’s Indoor Championships.

In other news from around the Ivy League, Princeton standout Peter Capkovic won Ivy League Player of the Year, going 5-2 at number one singles for the Tigers. Jeremy Feldman of Cornell won Ivy League Rookie of the Year, rounding out the individual awards.