Netmen Breeze Past Lions, Advance to ITCA Semis

Even two defaults weren't enough to stop the Harvard men's tennis team at the ITCA Tennis Championships yesterday afternoon in Princeton, N.J.

After blanking Boston College Thursday, the Crimson cruised past Columbia, 6-3, despite having one player default (Michael Zimmerman) and another retire (Jonathan Cardi) in singles action.

Freshman Richard Ellman made his varsity debut in fine style with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Rushan Sanarsinghe at the number-six position.

Sophomores Mike Shyjan, Derek Brown and Albert Chang prevailed in straight sets in the second, third and fourth singles positions, respectively. Shyjan defeated Columbia senior Harri Aiyer, 6-4, 6-2, while Derek Brown crushed Tom Givone, 6-0, 6-1. Chang trounced Steve Heroux, 6-1, 6-3.

At the fifth singles position, Cardi retired at 3-4 in the second set against Mark Sigalove, after taking the tiebreaker, 7-3, to win the first.

Zimmerman defaulted his singles match against Columbia senior Jeff Chiang at the number-one position.

In doubles action, Harvard swept the second and third matches in straight sets to insure the victory. Captain Mark Leschly and Chang rolled over Aiyer and Sigalove, 6-2, 6-1, at the number-two position. Brown and Cardi teamed to defeat Heroux and Givone, 6-4, 6-1, at number three.

Shyjan and Zimmerman split sets with Chiang and David Gabel before dropping their match at the number-one spot, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5.

Harvard will take on Ivy rival Princeton in the semifinals today at 1:30 p.m. In the other semifinal match, West Virginia will meet Dartmouth. West Virginia blanked Yale, 9-0, and Dartmouth sank Navy, 6-3.

If all goes as expected, it should be a Crimson-Mountaineer showdown in the finals on Sunday. Perennial league power West Virginia boasts the top-ranked player in the East, Paul Mancini, but Harvard's Brown notched a victory over him in tournament play over the summer.