No. 17 Men's Tennis Opens NCAA Tournament With No. 42 Georgia Tech Friday
5/7/2015 9:43:00 AM | Men's Tennis
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vs. #42 Georgia Tech (14-12, 4-8 ACC) |
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| Date Time Venue Host Bracket Tournament Centeral Live Stats Social Hashtags Match Notes Feature Video |
Friday, May 8 1 p.m. EST Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center, Oxford, Miss. Ole Miss 2015 Men's Tennis NCAA Championships Tournament Central Live Stats @GoColumbiaLions | @ColumbiaMTennis #TurnItBlue Columbia Notes The Greatest Generation |
NEW YORK – For the third time in four seasons, the Columbia men's tennis team will compete in the NCAA Tournament, taking on Georgia Tech in the first round of the Ole Miss regional. Play begins Friday when the Lions meet the Yellow Jackets at 1 p.m. EST, followed by a matchup between the host Rebels and Alabama State.
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COLUMBIA'S JOURNEY TO THE TOURNEY
Columbia put together another historic spring season in 2015, with a 14-5 overall mark and went anunbeaten 7-0 against conference opponents en route to its second straight Ivy League title. Along the way, the Lions won ITA Kick-Off Weekend to earn its first automatic bid to the ITA Indoor Championships for the first-time in 20 years, took down three top-25 opponents, 10 ranked opponents and swept six teams.
No. 17 Winston Lin has been the Lions staple at the No. 1 position. The senior lead Columbia with a 12-6 dual record. Dragos Ignat, who ranks 108th in the nation, owns a 10-7 record from the second position, while Ashok Narayana is 12-3 out of the third and fourth spots. Mike Vermeer is unbeaten in dual action for the second straight season, with a 12-0 ledger playing in the lower half of the lineup.
Lin and Vermeer come in at No. 46 in the national doubles rankings and are 11-3 in dual action this season. The Lions have two tandems that are unbeaten in dual play in Ashok Narayana and Dragos Igant (8-0), who rank 84th, and Max Schnur and Bert Vancura (6-0).
HOW THE OTHER TEAMS GOT HERE
Ole Miss earned hosting rights for the third time in the last four years and 12th time overall thanks to a strong overall record (17-8) and eight wins in its challenging Southeastern Conference. The Rebels won four of their last six matches of the season, knocking off Tennessee, Kentucky, South Carolina and Vanderbilt over a two-week span, but fell to Georgia, 4-1, in the semifinals of the SEC tournament. Ole Miss, who went 10-1 at home this season, earned the tournament's 14th seed.
Columbia's first round opponent Georgia Tech (14-12, 4-8 ACC) earned its spot in the NCAA tourney thanks to a strong performance in the ACC tournament to earn an at-large bid. After finishing the regular season in 10th-place in the conference standings, the Yellow Jackets put together a run in the tournament, taking down No. 35 Notre Dame, 4-0, then No. 14 Virginia Tech, 4-3 in the quarterfinals. Wake Forest eliminated Tech, 4-0, in the semis.
Alabama State (12-15, 3-2 SWAC) is the final team in the Ole Miss regional, and will face off against the host Rebels in the first round. The Hornets earned their Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) title and will be making their first ever appearance in the NCAA tournament. Alabama State peaked at the right time as it put together a four-match win streak to end the regular season and carried that momentum to complete the run to the conference title and the NCAA tournament berth.
COLUMBIA IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
Columbia's 2015 tournament appearance marks the 10th time Columbia will play in the NCAAs with its first appearance coming in 1984. The furthest the Lions have advanced in the tournament was a year ago when Columbia notched its first victory in the Big Dance in program history with a 4-0 sweep of East Tennessee. The Lions followed that with a 4-3 triumph over Vanderbilt to advance to the Sweet Sixteen, where Southern California cut Columbia's run short, 5-0.
WE MEET AGAIN
The Lions and Yellow Jackets will renew a rivalry Friday, as the teams have not been opposite the nets of one another in dual play since 1971. Georgia Tech has won each of the dual meetings versus Columbia to boast a 3-0 record versus the Lions, and held a slim advantage in singles play at this year's MLK Invitational in mid-January.
ZEROING IN
Columbia notched six sweeps this season including back-to-back sweeps on two occasions. The first came when the Lions took down Binghamton and Monmouth, posting the first consecutive cleansheets since Columbia blanked Penn and Princeton in straight contest in 2014 to capture the Ivy League Championship. On April 11-12, Columbia accomplished the back-to-back clean sheets again when it cruised past Yale (4-0) and Brown (7-0).
IN THE RANKINGS
Columbia sits at No. 17 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Poll this week after rising as high as No. 11 Feb. 17, its highest ranking in program history.
As of May 1, Columbia singles players, Winston Lin ranks 17th in the ITA followed by Dragos Ignat at 108th. In doubles, Max Schnur and Ashok Narayana rank 40th in the country. Narayana also teams up with Ignat for the 84th pair in the country. Mike Vermeer, meanwhile, is on the 46th and 83rd 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 April 21 May 1 |
Rank 16 16 13 15 11 13 15 23 29 26 28 22 23 23 17 |
RELATED LINK: ITA RANKINGS
JUST KEEP WINNING…
With a 7-0 record in the Ancient Eight season, the Lions pushed their Ivy League win streak to 18 matches dating back to April 3, 2013. The 7-0 record is Columbia's back-to-back undefeated Ivy League record en route to consecutive Ivy League Championship trophies.
All-IVY LEAGUE
After clinching its second outright Ivy League title, the Columbia garnered eight All-Ivy League accolades, the most in program history.
Winston Lin capped off his Ivy League career as a unanimous first-team All-Ivy League singles selection for the fourth time. Ashok Narayana and Max Schnur became the first Lions to garner doubles first team selections four times in their careers and Narayana picked up second-team singles accolades. Narayana's other doubles partner, Dragos Ignat, earned a spot on the doubles second team and the singles first team. Mike Vermeer was honored with his first all-league status with spots on the second singles and doubles teams.
In addition, Bid Goswami, The Columbia Tennis Alumni and Friends Head Coach of Men's Tennis, received the league's inaugural Coach of the Year Award, helping Columbia win its 10th conference crown since he arrived in Morningside Heights in 1982.
MORE READING: Eight All-Ivy Accolades for League Champion Men's Tennis; Goswami Named Coach of the Year
LIN SELECTED
After competing with the Columbia men's tennis team in the NCAA Tournament, Winston Lin will continue playing in Columbia Blue as he has been selected into the NCAA Singles Championship for the second straight year. The Lion earned an automatic bid into the field of 64.
Competition is set to begin Wednesday, May 20 at the Hurd Tennis Center in Waco, Texas. One round will be played each day through the final on Monday, May 25. With only the participants announced, the actual draw will be released only a day before play commences.
MORE READING: Lin Selected for NCAA Singles Championship
VERMEER VICTORIOUS
Through two seasons in Columbia blue, Mike Vermeer has gone unbeaten on the singles court against Ivy League competition. This season was no different for the junior as he went 7-0 against the junior sits league opponents and is 12-0 overall in dual play.
REWRITING HISTORY
The Lions have rewritten the program's history books this season. 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 January 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 February 14.
· Earned the program's highest ITA Ranking at No. 11 February 11.
· Back-to-back Ivy League Champions
· Making the program's 10th appearance in the NCAA Tournament
· Eight Lions earned All-Ivy League honors, the most in program history.
LAST TIME OUT
The then-23rd-ranked Columbia men's tennis team completed its second straight perfect Ivy League season en route to capturing its 12th conference championship with a 7-0 win over Penn Sunday afternoon at the Dick Savitt Tennis Center.
Columbia (14-5, 7-0 Ivy League) grabbed the outright title for the second time in as many years and 10th time in program history. The Lions are back-to-back champions for the first time since hoisting the Albie Collins Trophy following the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons. The win not only sealed Columbia's champion status, but helped the program to its sixth undefeated home season with a 7-0 home record this season and 23rd consecutive victory in the friendly confines of the tennis center. The triumph also extended the Lions Ancient Eight win-streak to 18 straight dating back to April 3, 2013.
The Lions kept its Ivy League doubles record perfect as it secured its seventh straight and 14th overall doubles point of the season as it took decisions at No. 2 followed by No. 3. Columbia's momentum did not decrease as it roared into singles play and sealed the triumph with wins at the fourth, first and fifth spots.
MORE READING: Outright Champs! No. 23 Men's Tennis Sweeps Penn, 7-0, For Second Straight Ivy League Title
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
For the past decade Columbia has put on a show for its home crowd posting a 65-7 record at the Dick Savitt Tennis Center including five undefeated home seasons. Currently, the Lions ride a 23-match win streak under the roof of the tennis center, dating back to Feb. 1, 2013. This season Columbia notched its sixth unbeaten mark with a 7-0 ledger in the friendly confines of the tennis center.
