Men's Tennis Eyes Outright Ivy Title

The Harvard men’s tennis team may have already clinched a share of the Ivy League title, but it still has bigger goals to accomplish.

The No. 21 Crimson (17-4, 5-0 Ivy) will try to complete its first undefeated Ivy season since 2008 and secure its 30th conference championship when it takes on Brown (13-9, 2-3 Ivy) at home on Thursday and then wraps up its season at Dartmouth (9-13, 1-5 Ivy) on Saturday.

The Bears and the Big Green, who sit in sixth and seventh place in the Ancient Eight, respectively, have combined for just three conference victories all season. They played each other on Sunday in Providence, and Brown prevailed, 4-3.

Despite the struggles of its upcoming opponents, Harvard does not intend to overlook them and coast across the finish line.

“We don’t want to share the title,” head coach Dave Fish said. “So we can’t sit there and say that we’re fat cats now. We have to have the attitude that if we’ve done well, don’t diminish it by putting in a halfhearted effort.”

The Crimson was scheduled to take on Brown at home on April 19, but the match was rescheduled due to the citywide manhunt for Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokar Tsarnaev. Harvard will instead face the Bears on Thursday evening.

A victory in either of its two matches this week will give the Crimson its second consecutive uncontested conference crown.

Harvard has historically dominated the Bears, going 75-7 all-time. The Crimson has also won eight of its past nine matches against Brown, including two victories last year.

Thursday’s match will also mark the final home tilt for co-captain Andy Nguyen, the lone senior on the team.

Nguyen has enjoyed a successful senior season, going 12-2 at the fourth singles spot and teaming with freshman Nicky Hu to post a 9-4 mark at No. 2 doubles.

“Andy’s had a great career and has contributed so much to the team,” Hu said. “It’s great to see someone who’s worked so hard academically and athletically succeed and play at such a high level in his last year.”

While the Bears have a winning record this season, they have struggled in Ancient Eight play. Brown took its Ivy opener against Penn, but lost three straight to Princeton, Columbia, and Cornell before beating Dartmouth this past weekend.

The Bears boast a solid bottom half of the lineup. Playing at third and fourth singles, junior Sam Fife has notched three wins in four Ivy matches.

Sophomore Daniel Hirschberg had been a model of consistency for Brown, winning each of his four singles matches in conference play before dropping a three-setter against the Big Green.

“Brown’s No. 4 beat our No. 1 last year, and their No. 5 beat our current No. 1 [Denis Nguyen] a year ago too,” Fish said. “If that doesn’t sober you up quickly, I don’t know what does. These guys are dangerous, and if you don’t prepare, that’s enough to change the match.”

Dartmouth has slipped after finishing third in the Ancient Eight in the past two seasons, and has only a 4-2 win over the Lions in early April to show for its conference season. It has lost its last four matches.

The Big Green’s Xander Centenari and Brandon DeBot have had a successful season in doubles, going 9-5 overall in dual play. But they will have to take on Harvard’s dominant first doubles team of junior co-captain Casey MacMaster and Denis Nguyen, who are ranked 52nd in the nation and are 11-1 on the season.

Consistency has been an issue for Dartmouth, but the lack of a regular lineup has paid off in some respects. 10 different combinations at No. 3 doubles have produced an overall 9-5 record, and six different players have combined to go 13-1 in sixth singles this season.

But the team has struggled at the top. Centenari is just 3-8 in No. 1 singles, and two teams have combined for a 5-8 record in first doubles.

Brown and Dartmouth represent the final two obstacles for the Crimson in completing an unblemished conference season and earning an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, which starts May 10.

“We know we have a couple matches to go,” Hu said. “Our mindset is to focus not just on the Ivy League, but also on NCAAs and improving our individual games in preparation. So we’re going to go at these last few matches just as hard.”

—Staff writer Justin C. Wong can be reached at justinwong@college.harvard.