No. 11 Lions Host No. 52 Penn Sunday

Sunday, April 9

New York, N.Y.

1:00 PM

Columbia University

#52 Penn

4/8/2023 2:59:00 PM | Men's Tennis

By: Garret Sulak

NEW YORK – Coming off a 4-3 win at No. 50 Princeton, the No. 11 Lions return home for a 1 p.m. first serve against No. 52 Penn on Sunday at the Milstein Family Tennis Center.

STARTING IVY LEAGUE PLAY

The Lions got Ivy League action started with an exciting 4-3 win at No. 50 Princeton on Friday afternoon. Columbia lost the doubles point, but rebounded to win four singles matches to earn the team win over the Tigers.

No. 96 Max Westphal, Hugo Hashimoto, Henry Ruger, and Ishaan Ravichander earned wins in their singles matches to help secure the Columbia win. The duo of Michael Zheng and Theo Winegar won their doubles match, but Princeton took the other two doubles matches to secure the doubles point.

Columbia sits at 14-2 overall and 1-0 in the Ivy League after posting a pair of 7-0 sweeps against Hofstra and Bryant at home last weekend.

LIONS IN THE RANKINGS

Three singles players and one doubles group are currently featured in the ITA rankings. First-year Michael Zheng has been ranked all spring. He came in at No. 14 in the first singles rankings and reached the No. 8 spot. Zheng is currently ranked No. 22 as the highest ranked individual on the team with a 12-3 record this spring. Roko Horvat checks in at No. 114 in singles with an 8-4 record this spring. Max Westphal takes the No. 96 spot in the most recent singles rankings as he is 9-3 in spring dual matches. Westphal and Theo Winegar checked in at No. 35 in the doubles rankings.

As a team, the Lions started the season ranked No. 22 in the ITA team rankings. Columbia currently sits at No. 11 in the current ITA rankings.

Columbia jumped one spot up to No. 21 after the first week of dual action. The Lions then moved up to No. 19 and jumped to No. 11 after defeating Harvard to win the ECAC Championship.

The Lions reached their highest ranking of the season two weeks ago as they took the No. 9 spot before losing at No. 20 Tennessee.

This is the ninth year in a row that the Columbia men's tennis team has achieved a top-25 ranking. This is also the fourth time since 2018 that the Columbia men's tennis team has been ranked in the top 10.

THE MATCHUP

Columbia will meet Penn for the 101^st time Sunday. The Quakers won last season's meeting in Philadelphia, 4-3. The Lions lead the overall series, 52-47-1.

Penn extended its winning streak to five as the Quakers posted a 4-3 win over No. 30 Cornell on Friday.

FOLLOWING THE LIONS

Stay up to date on all things Columbia Men's Tennis by following the Lions on Twitter (@CULionsMTEN), Instagram (@culionsmten) and on Facebook (@ColumbiaAthletics).