Columbia Ousts Men's Tennis in ECAC Championship, 5-2

After being ousted by Mississippi State, 4-1, in the round of 16 at the NCAA Tournament last spring, the Harvard men's tennis team was looking to continue its dominance in the tennis world this fall.

For the first time since 1993, the Crimson found itself in the sweet 16 in Athens, Ga. last season. This year, the game remains the same, and so do many of the key elements of Harvard's success.

Leading the Crimson charge is junior All-American Tom Blake who made his way all the way to the round of 16 in last season's NCAA single's championships.

Senior Mitty Arnold also makes his presence felt in any tennis complex. After advancing all the way to the sweet 16 in doubles, Arnold is a perennial force for the Crimson.

With all the pieces intact, Harvard faced its last major challenge of the fall season when it ventured down to Princeton this past weekend for the four day ECAC Men's Invitational Tennis Championship.

Looking in fine form, Harvard cruised through its first two opponents with barely a bat of an eye. Both St. Johns and Providence received a 7-0 lashing at the hands of Harvard's hard hitters in the first two days.

University of Pennsylvania offered a bit more of a challenge, but in the end, Harvard cruised to an easy 6-1 victory.

Columbus Day served as the template for the championship match. After winning the tournament the past three years and pitted against Columbia, there just wasn't much doubt about which team would come out with the trophy.

Unfortunately for the Crimson things don't always go the way they should. In a major upset, Columbia edged past Harvard, 5-2, to take home the championship.

"It was definitely a surprise," Arnold said. "I think that it was a combination of overconfidence on our part and they came out very well and competed better than we did. We got stuck in hyperbole before the match and didn't expect it to be so hard."

With a disappointing ECAC tournament behind it, and a whole winter season to mull over the loss, the Crimson is trying to look forward.

"We've got similar goals as last year, and we want to make it back to the NCAA," Arnold said. "We have the talent to do that and it is just a matter of remembering how much work we have to put in. And now I guess you can add beating Columbia to that list."

Ivy Power

Coming into the final match, Columbia displayed impressive victories over Yale (6-1) and the host team Princeton (4-3). The win over Harvard was not only the icing on the cake, but perhaps a season making victory.

With just a loss to Harvard in the third round, University of Pennsylvania captured third place. Not far behind in the fourth position was Princeton who buried Brown (7-0) and then scraped by Penn State University, 4-3, before falling to Columbia.

The Ivy League teams looked impressive and certainly announced their presence as no other ECAC team made it past the second round of play.

Providence and Penn State advanced through the first day, but were overcome by the Ivy power in the next round.