Men's Tennis Beats Princeton For ECAC Crown

The Harvard men's tennis team capped off a perfect weekend by defeating Princeton, 5-2, yesterday in the finals of the ECAC team tournament.

The Crimson (4-0 overall), who came into the four-day tournament as the top seed and defending champion, breezed through its half of the bracket by defeating Temple 7-0, Brown 6-1, and Penn 6-1 en route to the finals.

The victory in the finals, which were held at Princeton, was tinged with sweet revenge as the Tigers had upset the Crimson in the first round of the NCAA Eastern Regional tournament last spring.

The Crimson began the weekend with a 7-0 triumph over 16th-seed Temple in the first round on Friday.

The Crimson dominated both the singles and doubles matches against the Owls, winning all three doubles pro-sets and sweeping all the singles matches in straight sets.

The match against Temple also saw the return of junior Todd Meringoff to the starting line-up.

Meringoff, who had not played since last March, punctuated his return with a 6-4, 6-0 win at second singles.

Harvard next faced eighth-seeded Brown in the Quarterfinals.

The Bears had upstaged the Crimson at the Yale Invitational tournament two weeks ago, winning two of the singles flights to the Crimson's none.

The head-to-head match on Saturday, however, yielded starkly different results.

The Crimson swept the doubles pro-sets to win the doubles team point and then took five of six singles matches to complete the rout.

If the competition was supported to get harder at the Crimson got deeper in the draw, somebody forgot to tell the netmen.

Harvard came out on Sunday to defeat fifth-seeded Penn, 6-1, in the semi-finals.

Captain Andrew Rueb, who also had been sidelined with an injury since last spring, triumphed in his return to first singles, winning 6-1, 7-6(4) against his Quaker opponent.

The Monday afternoon finals began dangerously for the Crimson as Princeton captured both first and third doubles to win the doubles team point.

The netmen then proceeded to drop the first set in the first, third and sixth singles matches, before turning things around.

The Harvard come-back was keyed by Rueb at first singles and freshman Tom Blake at sixth singles.

Rueb man-handled his opponent after dropping the first set and won the match, 4-6, 6-0, 6-4.

"Rueb gave a heroic effort against Princeton," heard coach Dave Fish said.

Blake also come back from a one-set deficit, winning 6-7(6), 6-3, 6-0.

Sophomore Mitty Arnold, freshman Philip Tseng and junior Danny Chung won in straight sets at second, fourth and fifth singles, respectively, to ensure the Crimson victory.

The Crimson's victories over the weekend were satisfying in the present and full of promise for the future.

The full-time return of both Rueb and Meringoff to the line-up spells trouble for upcoming opponents.

In the pre-season Rolex Collegiate Rankings, Rueb held the 21st spot and Meringoff was ranked 35th.

"Tood's hasn't been able to practice at a high level for a while," Fish said. "But just having him in the line-up was a boost to the team."

Throw into the Rueb-Meringoff mix the play of sophomore. Mitty Arnold and the top of the Crimson's line-up stands among the best in the east.

In this weekend's tournament, Arnold went 4-0, including two wins each at first and second singles.

"Mitty played an exceptional match," Fish said after Arnold defeated his Princeton opponent, 6-2, 6-4. "Especially considering he had lost to the same guy last year."

If this weekend is any indication, the Crimson can also expect freshmen Tseng and Blake to contribute heavily.

Tseng, who played third singles in the first three rounds and fourth singles in the finals, won all his matches in straight sets.

Blake played the Temple and Penn matches at fifth singles, the Brown match at fourth singles and the Princeton match at sixth singles.

Although his position in the line-up doesn't appear to be finalized, his 4-0 record this weekend should keep him high up on the Crimson ladder.

"They [Tseng and Blake] are great additions to the team," Fish said. "They've both improved a lot since they got here."

Also encouraging was the Crimson's play at doubles. Over the 12 doubles pro-sets played by the Crimson this weekend, the Crimson dropped only two--both to Princeton--in the finals.

With several players just now returning from injuries, the doubles combinations playing together now may not be final.

"We're really still in the formative level in getting doubles teams together," Fish said.

The combination of Arnold and Tseng, however, played all four matches together this weekend--one at first doubles, three at second doubles--and came out on top each time.

Finally, providing a stabilizing influence in the middle of the line-up was Chung, who won the three matches he played at fourth and fifth singles

"Rueb gave a heroic effort against Princeton," heard coach Dave Fish said.

Blake also come back from a one-set deficit, winning 6-7(6), 6-3, 6-0.

Sophomore Mitty Arnold, freshman Philip Tseng and junior Danny Chung won in straight sets at second, fourth and fifth singles, respectively, to ensure the Crimson victory.

The Crimson's victories over the weekend were satisfying in the present and full of promise for the future.

The full-time return of both Rueb and Meringoff to the line-up spells trouble for upcoming opponents.

In the pre-season Rolex Collegiate Rankings, Rueb held the 21st spot and Meringoff was ranked 35th.

"Tood's hasn't been able to practice at a high level for a while," Fish said. "But just having him in the line-up was a boost to the team."

Throw into the Rueb-Meringoff mix the play of sophomore. Mitty Arnold and the top of the Crimson's line-up stands among the best in the east.

In this weekend's tournament, Arnold went 4-0, including two wins each at first and second singles.

"Mitty played an exceptional match," Fish said after Arnold defeated his Princeton opponent, 6-2, 6-4. "Especially considering he had lost to the same guy last year."

If this weekend is any indication, the Crimson can also expect freshmen Tseng and Blake to contribute heavily.

Tseng, who played third singles in the first three rounds and fourth singles in the finals, won all his matches in straight sets.

Blake played the Temple and Penn matches at fifth singles, the Brown match at fourth singles and the Princeton match at sixth singles.

Although his position in the line-up doesn't appear to be finalized, his 4-0 record this weekend should keep him high up on the Crimson ladder.

"They [Tseng and Blake] are great additions to the team," Fish said. "They've both improved a lot since they got here."

Also encouraging was the Crimson's play at doubles. Over the 12 doubles pro-sets played by the Crimson this weekend, the Crimson dropped only two--both to Princeton--in the finals.

With several players just now returning from injuries, the doubles combinations playing together now may not be final.

"We're really still in the formative level in getting doubles teams together," Fish said.

The combination of Arnold and Tseng, however, played all four matches together this weekend--one at first doubles, three at second doubles--and came out on top each time.

Finally, providing a stabilizing influence in the middle of the line-up was Chung, who won the three matches he played at fourth and fifth singles