Columbia University
LOYOLA MARYMOUNT
Men's Tennis Deals Loyola Marymount a 7-0 Defeat
3/7/2007 7:30:00 PM | Men's Tennis
You might have thought the Lions would have been kind to their West Coast “cousins” ? the Los Angeles school is also known as the Lions ? but any hope of that was dispelled when Columbia swept all three doubles matches to win the doubles point.
If the doubles matches were fairly easy, however, the singles matches were anything but. Although losing two sets by 6-0 scores, the West Coast Lions fought like tigers, sending two matches to three sets and a third to a pair of tiebreakers.
“They're tough,” junior Jared Drucker said as he came off the Dick Savitt Tennis Center court after his victory in second singles. “They're California guys used to playing outdoors, but they look like they're handling our indoor center.”
Combined with Loyola Marymount's matches at Yale and Princeton earlier this week, the beautifully-constructed Savitt Center must have been a true learning experience for them.
“They probably have never played on indoor courts before,” Drucker, a Southern California resident, speculated. “They may never have seen them. I had never seen them until I came to Columbia.”
Drucker was one of the victors in doubles, teaming with Justin Chow, who also comes from the West Coast, but well north of Los Angeles, in British Columbia. They defeated Loyola's top player, Nico Terriens, and Jacek Twarowski, 8-4.
Seniors Marty Moore and Paul Ratchford combined for an 8-6 win at first doubles, and junior Mark Clemente teamed with first-year Jonathan Wong to win third doubles, 8-5.
Still, head coach Bid Goswami was concerned.
“I was nervous about this match,” he admitted. “Loyola Marymount had lost to Princeton early this week, but they beat Yale, whom I think may be better than Princeton. They also defeated UC Irvine, one of the best teams on the coast..”
Winning the three doubles matches didn't lift Goswami's spirits as much as he had hoped.
“We played okay in doubles,” he said, “but we weren't as sharp as we were against Alabama last week, even though Alabama won the doubles point.”
The singles matches proved highly competitive. Although the Ivy League Lions captured the first set in each of the six singles matches, concern was written on many faces. The West Coast Lions justified those worries when they deadlocked two matches by winning the second set at No. 3 singles, Moore vs. Sam Tadevosian, and No. 5, Chow vs. Matt Phillips.
Drucker was the first to register a singles victory when he defeated a freshman from Bulgaria named Nikola Petrov, 6-0, 7-5. He seemed relieved as he accepted congratulations.
Several other Columbia players followed with wins ? Wong by 6-4, 6-0 over Twarowski, Chow by 6-3, 6-7, 1-0 (10-4) over Phillips. Co-captain Mike Accordino, at No. 6 singles, defeated Renzo Maggi, 6-1, 7-5. Then Moore won a three-setter from Tadevosian, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
The only match still to be decided was No. 1 singles, where Clemente was battling Terrien. The Loyola Marymount senior, who lives in France, forced Clemente to a tiebreaker in each set. Although the Columbia player captured both by 7-6 scores, he was shaking his head when it ended.
“He was kind of weird,” Mark said. “He'd make a bunch of mistakes, then a lot of good shots. He'd make some great points, then do some dumb things.”
Indoor tennis on the college level is power tennis, with strong serves and hard volleys. Terrien exhibited some of that, but he also showed other skills.
“He was crafty,” Clemente said. “He hit a lot of drop shots.” The weak shots, landing softly just over the net and then bouncing two orb three times before Clemente could reach them, were quite successful. “You hit them with underspin, like a slice,” the Columbia player explained. “When [your opponent] is hitting drop shots, you have to try to anticipate them ... I hit them once in a while, to change the pace.”
In addition to Loyola Marymount, two other topics were in the Columbia players' thoughts: midterm exams, administered this week, and next week's spring break trip to Texas.
“I'm happy that we did this well during midterm week,” Goswami said, “and I'm looking forward to the trip to Texas. We are going to play four good teams, and we'll have to get used to playing outside. We haven't done that since October.”
“The Texas trip is getting tougher every year,” Drucker said. “My freshman year we played SMU and Texas-Arlington, and a Division II school. The next year we dropped the smaller school and picked up Arkansas. This year we have Texas A&M. They're a top 20 team.”
Drucker is not fazed by the difficult competition, though.
“I like it when it's a lot tougher,” he said, “and I love playing tennis outside.” Goswami loves that, too, if his players adjust quickly to the unfamiliar conditions, especially the winds you don't find indoors. “They'll adjust to playing outside by next Friday,” he said, “but I need them to adjust by our first match next Tuesday.”
The Lions leave for Texas Saturday, and will practice outdoors until opening in Dallas against Southern Methodist Tuesday at 2 p.m. They play at Texas A&M Wednesday at 6 p.m., at Texas-Arlington Friday at 2 p.m., and at Texas-San Antonio Saturday at 10 a.m. Columbia's first match back up north will be against St. Joseph's on the Dick Savitt courts Friday, March 23 at 2 p.m.
Today's match:
COLUMBIA 7, LOYOLA MARYMOUNT 0
Wednesday, March 8, 2007
Dick Savitt Tennis Center, New York, N.Y.
Doubles
1. Marty Moore-Paul Ratchford, Columbia, def. Nick Perez-Matt Phillips, 8-6
2. Jared Drucker-Justin Chow, Columbia, def. Nico Terrien-Jacek Twarowski, 8-4
3. Mark Clemente-Jonathan Wong, Columbia, def. Sam Tadevosian-Renzo Maggi, 8-5
Columbia wins the doubles point.
Singles
1. Clemente, Columbia, def. Terrien, 7-6, 7-6
2. Drucker, Columbia, def. Nikola Petrov, 6-0, 7-5
3. Moore, Columbia, def. Tadevosian, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
4. Wong, Columbia, def. Twarowski, 6-4, 6-0
5. Chow, Columbia, def. Phillips, 6-3, 6-7, 1-0 (10-4)
6. Mike Accordino, Columbia, def. Maggi, 6-1, 7-5
Records: Columbia 6-1, Loyola Marymount 3-10
Players Mentioned
