Men’s Tennis Meets Harvard to Open ITA National Team Indoor Championships

Friday, February 16

New York, N.Y.

6:30 PM

Columbia University

#8 Harvard

Photo by: Columbia University Athletics / Stockton Photo, Inc.

Men’s Tennis Meets Harvard to Open ITA National Team Indoor Championships

2/15/2024 1:30:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Watch on Cracked Racquets Watch on Track Tennis Live Scoring Tournament Info ITA Tournament Page

First serve Friday is set for 6:30 p.m.

By: Garret Sulak

NEW YORK – The Columbia men's tennis team earned the No. 8 seed in the 2024 Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Division I Men's National Team Indoor Championships and will face 9^th-seeded Harvard in the first round Friday at 6:30 p.m. inside the Philip and Cheryl Milstein Family Tennis Center.

This will be Columbia's first time playing in the championship since the 2020 spring season. The Lions traveled to Madison, Wisconsin and finished the weekend 2-1 with wins against No. 14 South Carolina and No. 12 Baylor after falling to No. 3 Florida to open the tournament.

Columbia will face a familiar opponent in Harvard in the first round Friday. The Lions and Crimson met three times last season with Harvard winning two of the three contests. This will be the third season in a row where Columbia and Harvard will play each other at least twice in one season.

The winner of Friday's match will go on to play the winner of the Ohio State and Alabama matchup on Saturday.

As a single-elimination tournament, teams will play one match each day with the Championship Match being played on Monday, February 19, at noon (ET). However, all teams are guaranteed to play at least three matches over the weekend through either the main or consolation draw.

A TrackTennis live stream, as well as iOnCourt live scoring, will be available for every match at the 2024 Division I Men's Indoor Championship. Cracked Racquets will provide on-site commentary during the tournament. Fans can find the broadcast on the Cracked Racquets YouTube channel.

Columbia is coming off a 2-0 performance last weekend with an impressive 4-1 win over Tennessee, who earned the No. 5 seed in the championships. The Lions also rolled in a 4-0 win over Penn State.

No. 101 Alex Kotzen and Nicolas Kotzen have helped lead the Columbia singles attack during the dual season. Alex is 6-1 this spring primarily playing the No. 2 singles position. Nicolas remains unbeaten at 6-0 playing the No. 3 and 4 spots. Max Westphal is 4-0 with three wins at the No. 5 singles. 15^th-ranked Michael Zheng is 4-2 this spring as the top singles player for the Lions.

The Lions have found some success in doubles this spring as well. The duo of Nicolas Kotzen and Westphal earned a No. 24 ranking in the latest ITA doubles rankings. The duo is 5-2 overall with a 4-2 record playing the No. 2 doubles and a 1-0 mark in the top doubles. Theo Winegar and Zheng have worked together to post a 5-1 mark in the top doubles this spring.

Harvard is 6-2 overall this season after finishing last weekend 1-1 with a loss to 11^th-ranked Kentucky and a win over Louisville. Cooper Williams is the 12^th-ranked singles player in the latest ITA rankings. Williams and Daniel Milavsky are ranked No. 4 in doubles.

TEAM SEEDS
Ohio State (1), TCU (2), Texas (3), Virginia (4), Tennessee (5), Wake Forest (6), South Carolina (7), Columbia (8), Harvard (9), Texas A&M (10), Michigan (11), USC (12), Duke (13), Arizona (14), Arizona State (15) Alabama (16)

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