Men's Tennis Makes Columbia History at USTA/ITA Northeast Regionals
10/19/2014 7:38:00 PM | Men's Tennis
FLUSHING MEADOWS, N.Y. - Entering the third day at the United States Tennis Association (USTA)/Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Northeast Regional Championship the Columbia men's tennis team had already made history and by the end of play on Sunday at the Billie Jean King Tennis Center the Lions did it again.
For the first time in Columbia history six players competed in the round of 16 at the regional tournament and four captured victories to punch their ticket to the quarterfinals, accomplishing another first for the Lions. Columbia's four quarterfinalists is the most of any school while Ancient Eight foe Harvard will be represented by two.
Winston Lin, the tournaments top seed, breezed into the quarterfinals. The senior, who ranks eighth in the ITA, took down familiar Ivy League opponents from Harvard, Penn and Princeton during his run. After a first-round bye, Lin downed Grant Soloman, 6-3, 7-6(4), Vim Del Alwis, 6-1, 7-5, and Tom Colautti, 6-1, 6-1.
In the fifth section of the eight-part singles Dragos Ignat dominated. The 5-8 seed strung together three solid victories to power into the quarterfinals. The junior bested St. John's Robert Livi, 6-4, 6-2, Penn's (17-32) Nicolas Podesta, 6-3, 7-6, and Buffalo's Pablo Alvarez, 6-4, 6-3.
Ignat's classmate Mike Vermeer, who ranks 107 in the nation, cruised past his opponents to the round of eight. Vermeer, a 9-16 seed, posted wins over Matt Kuhar of Bryant (6-4, 7-5), Penn's Jeremy Court (3-6, 6-3, 6-4) and Yale's (17-32) Ziqi Wang (6-1, 3-6, 6-2).
Ashok Narayana is the final Columbia to set to compete on the fourth day of the regionals. The senior, who ranks No. 108 in the ITA and is a 5-8 seed at the tournament, tallied victories over Kial Kaiser of Princeton (6-2, 6-5), Josh Pompan of Penn (7-6, 6-4) and Ciro Ricciardi of Dartmouth (7-6, 6-4).
Max Schnur and Eric Rubin were apart of the Lions' history setting regional run as the senior and junior advanced to the round of 16, but were eliminated.
After a first round bye, Schnur, a senior 9-16 seed, defeated Cornell's Colin Sinclair (3-6, 7-6, 6-2) and Buffalo's (17-32) Damien David (7-6, 3-6, 7-6) to reach the round of 16 where he met Harvard's Sebastian Beltrame. Schnur fell to the 5-8 seed's racquet by a score of 6-3, 6-3.
A qualifier for the tournament, Rubin carried his qualifying momentum into the main draw as he rattled off three straight victories. After beating Matt Nardell of Penn, he upset (17-32) Josh Yablon of Princeton (6-3, 6-4) and (9-16) Brian Yeung of Harvard (6-1, 3-6, 6-3). The tournament's 3-4 seed Dovydas Sakinis of Dartmouth halted Rubin's tournament run by a 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 decision.
Senior Bert Vancura, a 17-32 seed, and junior Richard Pham also competed in the singles main draw. Vancura took down Si Hazarika of Binghamton, 6-3, 6-1, before falling to Yale's Tyler Lu, 6-3, 6-0. Pham, a qualifier, fell to (9-16) Stefan Viniti of the Big Red, 6-7, 6-1, 6-0, in the round of 64 after opening the tournament with a win over Yale's Martin Svenning.
Columbia also shined on the doubles court as the tandem of Narayana and Schnur sailed past teams from Princeton, Brown and Yale to advance to the semifinals.
The Lions look to continue its historic run tomorrow as four players compete in the singles main draw's quarterfinals and Naryana and Schnur compete in the doubles semis with matches set to begin at 8:30 a.m. at the National Tennis Center.
Monday's Schedule
Singles Quarterfinals - 8:30 a.m.
Lin vs. Steinroeder (Harvard)
Ignat vs. Berzins (FDU)
Singles Quarterfinals - 10:30 a.m.
Vermeer vs. Narayana
Singles Semifinals - 1 p.m.
Doubles Semifinals - 8:30 a.m.
(No. 6/1) Narayana/Schnur vs. (3-4) Kipouras/Sakinis (Dartmouth)
Regional Results
Doubles
(No.6/1) Schnur/Narayana
Round of 64 - Bye
Round of 32 -def. Yablon/Kaiser (Princeton), 8-7
Round of 16 - def. To/Yeoh (Brown) 8-1
Quarterfinals - def. Svenning/Wang (Yale) 8-2
(5-8) Lin/Vermeer
Round of 64 - Bye
Round of 32 - lost to Podesta/Court (Penn)
Ignat/Vancura
Round of 64 - lost to Irizarry/Blair (St. Bonaventure)
Singles
Eric Rubin
Round of 128 - def. Matt Nardell (Penn)
Round of 64 - def. (17-32) Josh Yablon (Princeton) 6-3, 6-4
Round of 32 - def. (9-16) Brian Yeung (Harvard) 6-1, 3-6, 6-3
Round of 16 - lost to (3-4) Dovydas Sakinis (Dartmouth) 2-6, 6-1, 6-2
Richard Pham
Round of 128 - def. Martin Svenning (Yale)
Round of 64 - lost to (9-16) Stefan Vinti (Cornell) 6-7, 6-1, 6-0
(No. 107/5-8) Mike Vermeer
Round of 128 - Bye
Round of 64 - def. Matt Kuhar (Bryant) 6-4, 7-5
Round of 32 - def. Jeremy Court (Penn) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
Round of 16 - def. (17-32) Ziqi Wang (Yale) 6-1, 3-6, 6-2
(No. 8/1) Winston Lin
Round of 128 - Bye
Round of 64 - def. Grant Solomon (Harvard) 6-3, 7-6(4)
Round of 32 - def. (17-32) Vim Del Alwis (Penn) 6-1, 7-5
Round of 16 - def. (9-16) Tom Colautti (Princeton) 6-1, 6-1
(9-16) Max Schnur
Round of 128 - Bye
Round of 64 - def. Colin Sinclair (Cornell) 3-6, 7-6, 6-2
Round of 32 - def. (17-32) Damien David (Buffalo) 7-6, 3-6, 7-6
Round of 16 - lost to (5-8) Sebastian Beltrame (Harvard) 6-3, 6-3
(5-8) Dragos Ignat
Round of 128 - Bye
Round of 64 - def. R. Livi (St. John's) 6-4, 6-2
Round of 32 - def. (17-32) Nicolas Podesta (Penn) 6-3, 7-6
Round of 16 - def. Pablo Alvarez (Buffalo) 6-4, 6-3
(No. 108/5-8) Ashok Narayana
Round 128 - Bye
Round 64 - def. Kial Kaiser (Princeton) 6-2, 6-5
Round 32 - def. Josh Pompan (Penn) 7-6, 6-4
Round of 16 - def. (17-32) Ciro Ricciardi (Dartmouth) 7-6, 6-4
(17-32) Bert Vancura
Round of 128 - Bye
Round of 64 - def. Si Hazarika (Binghamton) 6-3, 6-1
Round of 32 - lost to Tyler Lu (Yale) 6-3, 6-0
(ITA Rank/Tournament seed in parentheses)
Players Mentioned
