Netmen Complete Trifecta

The Harvard men's tennis team is now one win away from clinching the Ivy title.

Harvard, the 13th-ranked team in the country, put itself in a position to do so by defeating Dartmouth, 6-1, in Hanover, N.H. on Tuesday, and Cornell, 7-2 in Ithaca, N.Y. on Friday.

In other action last weekend, the Crimson bumped off Army, 9-0, extending Harvard's unbeaten steak in the East region to nine games.

Harvard's true road test will come on Wednesday when the Crimson (16-5 overall, 9-0 EITA, 6-0 Ivy) travels to Princeton, N.J., to serve it up against the Tigers. Princeton (6-0 Ivy) is also underfeated in Ivy League competition.

"We are focusing all of our energy on Princeton right now," Harvard's John Tolmie said. "We won't be thinking about the NCAAs until the Princeton match is behind us."

Even with the NCAA tourney and the Princeton match looming in the future, the Crimson handily disposed of Dartmouth, Cornell and Army. Harvard's Mike Zimmerman silenced any questions about who is the number-one player in the Eastern Region when he downed the Big Green's Matt Semlar in straight sets, 7-5, 7-6.

Semlar and Zimmerman had shared time in the top spot prior to Tuesday's match.

Resting The Big Guns

Crimson Coach Dave Fish rested Zimmerman, Michael Shyjan and Derek Brown for the three-game road trip. Fish would like the trio to be fresh for the Princeton match. And so, Fish relied on Harvard's impressive depth to beat Cornell and Army.

For a brief moment in the Cornell match, however, it appeared as though Fish needed his big guns.

"I saw our number-two and number-three singles players lose while I was playing, and I knew we could be in trouble," Harvard's Albert Chang said.

Chang filled the number-one singles spot--something he has done very effectively all season--for Zimmerman.

With action taking place on four courts at the same time, Chang saw freshman Ian Williams and Tolmie lose their matches while he was down in the second set of his own match.

After winning a close first set, 7-5, Chang began to struggle, against Cornell's Rich Bernstein, who was having fantastic success with his first serves.

"I had to focus on my game," Chang said. "I didn't let myself become overwhelmed by what was going on around me."

Chang won the second set, 7-6, after overcoming several set point eliminations in a 12-10 tie-breaker.

Williams' and Tolmie's losses--Harvard's two losses in the Cornell match--spurred Chang to victory. The Crimson's winning streak--which began with Chang--continued against Army as the Crimson blanked the Cadets in both singles and doubles competition.

The Harvard-Princeton Rivalry

Harvard's victories over Dartmouth, Cornell, and Army have set the stage for the Crimson's showdown against Princeton.

Last year, under similar circumstances, Harvard rose to the occasion and soundly defeated the Tigers, 8-1, to capture the Ivy title.

This year, the pre-season rankings heated the Harvard-Princeton rivalry, as Princeton was placed ahead of the Crimson in spite of Harvard's convincing win over the Tigers last May.