Ivy Title at Stake for No. 23 Men's Tennis at No. 35 Princeton, vs. Penn
4/16/2015 10:20:00 AM | Men's Tennis
| at No. 35 Princeton (18-6, 3-2 Ivy League) | vs. Penn (14-9, 0-5 Ivy League) | ||
| Date Venue Social Hashtags Match Notes |
Friday, April 17 Lenz Tennis Center @GoColumbiaLions | @ColumbiaMTennis #TurnItBlue Columbia Notes |
Sunday, April 19 Dick Savitt Tennis Center @GoColumbiaLions | @ColumbiaMTennis #TurnItBlue Columbia Notes |
NEW YORK – With a perfect 5-0 Ivy League record, the No. 22 Columbia men's tennis team's fate lies in its own racquets as the Lions look to secure their 12th league crown this weekend at Princeton and versus Penn. With a win over the 35th-ranked Tigers on Friday, April 17 the Lions will clinch a share of the Ancient Eight title, before closing its regular season at the Dick Savitt Tennis Center against the Quakers on Sunday, April 19 for the outright crown.
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SALUTE TO THE SENIORS
Columbia's five seniors – Eric Jacobs, Winston Lin, Ashok Narayana, Max Schnur and Bert Vancura – will play their final home match of their careers at the Dick Savitt Tennis Center Sunday afternoon against Penn. These five Lions will go down in the program's history books as one of the most decorated graduating classes in its history. Over their tenure the Class of 2015 helped Columbia to a 67-19 overall record, a 22-4 mark against Ancient Eight opponents, a 30-1 mark inside the Dick Savitt Tennis Center, an Ivy League title, two appearances in the NCAA Tournament, including a program-best Sweet 16 run last season, the highest ITA ranking and the program's first appearance in the ITA Team National Indoors in over two decades.
LOWDOWN ON THE NO. 22 LIONS (12-5, 5-0 IVY LEAGUE)
Columbia's fate is in its own hands as it sits first in the Ivy League standings with a 5-0 conference record and 12-5 overall mark. The Lions are in the midst of a five-match win streak after defeating Yale (4-0) and then-No. 61 Brown (7-0) at the Dick Savitt Tennis Center last weekend.
Winston Lin, the 18th-ranked player in the ITA singles poll, is 11-5 exclusively at the No. 1 position to lead the Lions. Dragos Ignat, who ranks 96th in the nation, owns a 9-6 record from the second position, while Ashok Narayana is 10-3 out of the third and fourth spot. Mike Vermeer is unbeaten in dual action with a 10-0 ledger playing in the lower half of the lineup.
Lin and Vermeer come in at No. 56 in the national doubles rankings are 10-3 in dual action this season. The Lions have two tandems that are unbeaten in dual play in Ashok Narayana and Dragos Igant (6-0) and Max Schnur and Bert Vancura (4-0).
| WHERE WE STAND | IVY LEAGUE | OVERALL | |||||||||||||
| PLACE 1. 1. 3. 3. 5. 6. 6. 8. |
SCHOOL Columbia Harvard Princeton Cornell Dartmouth Brown Yale Penn |
|
W 5 3 3 3 2 1 1 0 |
L 0 1 2 2 2 3 3 5 |
PCT. 1.000 0.750 0.600 0.600 0.500 0.250 0.250 0.000 |
W 12 17 18 11 11 15 11 14 |
L 5 6 6 7 10 5 9 8 |
PCT. 0.706 0.739 0.750 0.611 0.524 0.750 0.550 0.636 |
|||||||
SCOUTING PRINCETON (18-6, 3-2 IVY LEAGUE)
The Tigers have played five of their seven Ivy League matches and bring a 3-2 conference mark, along with an 18-6 overall record, into its showdown with the Lions. Princeton stormed out of the Ivy gates for three straight wins, but dropped back-to-back contests this weekend versus Dartmouth (5-2) and Harvard (4-3).
Thomas Colautti and Zack McCourt make up Princeton's top doubles team, as the pair has a 10-3 dual match record, all on the first court. The Tigers have successfully used nine different combinations at third doubles, positing a 15-8 record in dual matches at No. 3.
McCourt has played the bulk of the singles matches on the first court and has compiled a 15-6 mark. Diego Vives boasts the best ledger in the Princeton line-up at 10-1 in the lower half of the lineup.
SCOUTING PENN (14-8, 0-5 IVY LEAGUE)
Penn boasts a solid 14-8 overall record, but has yet to win a league match as it sits 0-5.
Nicolas Podesta has been a strong presence for the Quakers at No. 1 with an 8-2 dual record. Josh Pompan paces Penn with a 17-4 mark coming on four different courts. A variety of combinations have played on the top doubles court for the Quakers with Jeremy Court and Nicholai Westergaard leading the way with a 6-3 ledger.
ZEROING IN
Columbia swept Binghamton and Monmouth in its to post back-to-back sweeps for the first time this season and first time since blanking Penn and Princeton in straight contests last season to capture the Ivy League Championship. On April 11-12, Columbia accomplished the back-to-back clean sheets when it cruised past Yale (4-0) and Brown (7-0) to bring its total of sweeps this season to four. A year ago, the Lions notched 13 clean sheets.
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
For the past decade Columbia has put on a show for its home crowd posting a 64-7 record at the Dick Savitt Tennis Center including five undefeated home seasons. Currently, the Lions ride a 22-match win streak under the roof of the tennis center, dating back to Feb. 1, 2013. This season Columbia is on the road to its sixth unbeaten mark as it sits 6-0 in the friendly confines of the tennis center.
IN THE RANKINGS
Columbia sits at No. 23 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Poll this week after rising as high as No. 11 Feb. 17, its highest ranking in program history. The Lions are the highest of seven Ivy League teams in the rankings.
As of April 14, Columbia singles players, Winston Lin ranks 18th in the ITA followed by Dragos Ignat at 96th. In doubles, Max Schnur and Ashok Narayana rank 35th in the country, while Mike Vermeer is on the 56th and 69th doubles teams with Winston Lin and Richard Pham, respectively.
| DATE Jan. 6 Jan. 20 Jan. 28 Feb. 3 Feb. 17 Feb. 24 March 3 March 10 March 17 March 24 March 31 April 7 Apri 14 |
Rank 16 16 13 15 11 13 15 23 29 26 28 22 23 |
RELATED LINK: ITA RANKINGS
JUST KEEP WINNING…
With a 5-0 start to Ancient Eight action this season, the Lions pushed their Ivy League win streak to 16 matches dating back to April 3, 2013. Last season Columbia downed all seven of its Ancient Eight opponents en route to hoisting the Ivy League Championship trophy.
VERMEER VICTORIOUS
Through two seasons in Columbia blue, Mike Vermeer has gone unbeaten on the singles court against Ivy League competition. This season, the junior sits 5-0 against league opponents and is 10-0 overall in dual play.
REWRITING HISTORY
Just about a month into the season, the Lions have already rewritten the program's history books. Here are a few highlights of what Columbia has already accomplished in 2014-15:
· Won ITA Kick-Off Weekend for the first time since appearing in the event seven years ago.
· Earned the first bid to ITA National Team Indoors for the first time in 20 years.
· Defeated the highest ranked opponent in then-No. 14 Notre Dame, 4-3, in the ITA Kick-Off Championship Jan. 25.
· Upstaged its defeat of then 14th-ranked Fighting Irish, with a 4-3 victory over then-No. 12 Cal in the back draw of ITA National Team Indoors Feb. 14.
· Earned the program's highest ITA Ranking at No. 11.
LAST TIME OUT
The No. 22 Columbia men's tennis team cruised to its fifth straight win and fourth shutout of the season on its home courts Sunday afternoon as the Lions blanked No. 61 Brown, 7-0, at the Dick Savitt Tennis Center.
The Lions made quick work of the Bears, winning five of the six singles matches in straight sets to earn their 16th straight Ivy League match and 22nd consecutive win at home.
MORE READING: No. 22 Men's Tennis Cruises Past No. 61 Brown, Remains Perfect in Ivy League Play
UP NEXT
The 2015 NCAA Championships begin May 9-10 at campus sites. The winner of the Ivy League receives an automatic bid to the tournament.
