Injuries Hamper Crimson Efforts in California

Spring break in Southern California instantly conjures images of a beautiful coastline: from riding ocean waves on a surfboard, to lying on a golden beach, soaking up the sun—could there be anything better than this?

In the case of the Crimson men’s tennis team, yes—it is likely that Harvard would gladly trade the various charms of the West Coast for a return to full strength and winning ways, culminating in back-to-back Ivy League championships.

With the start of the Ancient Eight fixtures only a week away, No. 68 Harvard (8-7) landed in the Golden State for its annual spring break tour. Four outdoor games and eight days later, as an injury-hampered Crimson shuffled its pack, the team left with one win and three straight losses, but overall winning contributions from 11 players.

“The teams are good out here, so it meant that everyone was getting a chance to play someone they haven’t been playing back home,” Harvard coach David Fish ’72 said. “Every single guy contributed a win out here, in tough company.”

Weakened by the absence of seniors Sasha Ermakov and co-captain Chris Clayton, the trip posed a test of Harvard’s strength in depth—a test, in spite of losses, that proved encouraging.

“Overall, it was great,” sophomore Alexei Chijoff-Evans said. “We weren’t playing at full strength, so I think it was as successful a trip as it could have been.”

SAN DIEGO 5, HARVARD 2

On Saturday, the Crimson squared up against No. 75 San Diego, eager to register a win in its last non-conference dual match of the season. Despite drawing level with the Toreros at 2-2, Harvard was unable to muster a win in its last three, tightly-contested singles.

“If we had our full squad without any injuries, we would have done a bit better,” Fish said. “But I think that the players that got a chance to play got better every single day, played considerably better than they’ve done in practice, and have shown remarkable team cohesion.”

Upon clinching the doubles point with a 8-3 win over the No. 2 sophomore combination of Aba Omodele-Lucien and Will Guzick, the Torero’s early advantage was slashed through a maiden duals win for freshman Mac McAnulty, who is also a Crimson news writer; the Crimson No. 6 outmuscled San Diego’s Levon Brown in a 7-5, 6-1 win.

The Toreros roared back with a win at No. 5 over Guzick, before another freshman threw Harvard a lifeline; returning from injury, No. 4 Manghan ground out victory over Juan de Villiers (7-6, 6-1).

With three singles points up for grabs, the remaining matches went down to the wire in the top three courts. Unfortunately for the Crimson, no one could prevail in three sets.

An opening set win for No. 1 Chijoff-Evans proved a false omen when he lost comprehensively to Dean Jackson (6-4, 1-6, 1-6). At No. 2, freshman Alistair Felton battled in vain, going down 1-6, 6-4, 1-6, while No. 3 Omodele-Lucien retired due to injury as San Diego seized the win.

For Chijoff-Evans, adjusting to an ‘al fresco’ playing style proved one of Harvard’s toughest challenges of the week.

“Some of the shots that I thought were winners, [Jackson] was just getting them, throwing up lobs, [and] the sun was interfering with my overhead,” Chijoff-Evans said. “It’s remarkably different from playing indoors.”

UC IRVINE 4, HARVARD 3

With two singles left to play, and the score poised at 3-2, the Crimson needed one more win to clinch Thursday’s match against the Anteaters. However, its hungry adversaries had other intentions.

Despite claiming the first set in their matches, No. 2 Felton and No. 5 McAnulty proceeded to lose their second and decisive third sets—going down 4-6, 7-6, 6-1 and 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 respectively—as UC Irvine overturned the score line and consigned Harvard to an unlikely 4-3 defeat.

“Big shots don’t work as well outdoors as they do indoors, and I think Felton felt that, because he usually works a great serve-and-volley game,” Fish said. “Here, he has to work the point much longer.”

In an unfamiliar doubles lineup, the Crimson began brightly with wins at No.’s 2 and 3, for the makeshift partnerships of Omodele-Lucien/Guzick and sophomore Tim Wu and McAnulty, respectively.

Harvard doubled its lead with an accomplished 6-1, 6-2 win by No. 3 Omodele-Lucien, before the Anteaters responded with two wins of their own in a competitive singles period.

No. 1 Chijoff-Evans won a hard-fought, three-set thriller (6-3, 2-6, 6-4) to record the third and final Crimson point.

SAN DIEGO STATE 6, HARVARD 1

Coming up against the No. 37 Aztecs on Wednesday, the Crimson expected a fight for every point if it wanted to overcome its toughest opponent of the tour. For a young Harvard lineup faced with unfamiliar playing conditions, it proved a test too far.

“It’s a slightly different style, because [San Diego State doesn’t] play indoors at all,” Fish said. “So they were very good on defense, they setup points well, and had good shape.”

Harvard had started energetically in the doubles, yet was left with nothing to show for its efforts; in three closely-fought matches, the Crimson forced their San Diego State counterparts into extra points, with the latter triumphant in all three.

In the closest upset, No.1 duo Chijo-Evans and Felton competed hard against the No. 57 pairing in the nation, Achim Ceban and Giovanni Vaglietti—with the Aztecs ultimately coming out on top (9-8).

Omodele-Lucien claimed Harvard’s sole point with a 7-6, 6-2 win at No. 4 singles.

HARVARD 4, LOYOLA MARYMOUNT 3

In the opening fixture, following a closely fought doubles point, the Crimson tamed the Lions to secure their solitary win of the tour.

Losing the No. 3 doubles, Harvard clawed its way back through a win by the No. 1 partnership of Chijoff-Evans and Clayton (8-6). Upon his return from injury, Ermakov teamed up with Felton at No. 2 to clinch the point in a thrilling 9-8 win.

In the singles, wins for Chijoff-Evans, senior Michael Hayes and Omodele-Lucien ensured the Crimson began its week in style.

—Staff writer Allen J. Padua can be reached at ajpadua@fas.harvard.edu.