Netmen Impress at NCAAs

The future looks great for Harvard men's tennis.

Harvard will lose only two seniors after completing what is arguably one of the Crimson's most successful seasons ever, both for the team and its individual competitors.

At the NCAA Championships in Athens, Ga. two weeks ago, Harvard finished among the top 16 teams in the country, suffering a heartbreaking 4-1 loss to No. 4 Mississippi State.

Then, at the individual championships held in Athens just two days later, junior Tom Blake made the round of 16, earning All-American status. The doubles team of captain Todd Meringoff and junior Mitty Arnold also made the Sweet Sixteen, but all three players went no further.

The success at the individual and team championships was the culmination of a long and successful season for the Crimson.

Harvard came out of the indoor season ranked 33rd in the nation and slowly climbed in the rankings all season. After losing their first match of the season 5-2 to No. 2 UCLA, the Crimson responded with huge back-to-back upsets of No. 9 South Alabama and No. 11 Duke.

The matches against those perennial powerhouse tennis schools were highlighted by the excellent play of Arnold who won all three of his singles matches in straight sets. Arnold also teamed with Meringoff to triumph in all three of their doubles matches.

Those big victories, along with subsequent wins over Miami, Penn St., Nebraska, catapulted Harvard to the No. 13 spot in the nation.

The early season success for Harvard, however, was short lived. On their traditional spring break trip to the West Coast, Harvard, playing against California's best tennis schools, was horrendous. The Crimson lost eight of their next nine matches.

The losing streak began with heart-breaking 4-3 losses to No. 24 Michigan, No. 36 UNLV, Tulsa, and No. 22 Cal-Irvine. Those defeats were followed by drillings at the hands of No. 10 Pepperdine and No. 1 UCLA.

When the Crimson returned home, however, they quickly got back on track. After a March 30 loss to Boise State, the Crimson won their next twelve matches, routing its EITA and Ivy-League opponents.

By May 12, Harvard (19-9, 9-0 EITA) was ranked in the top twenty again and was the second seed heading into the Region I NCAA qualifying tournament to be held at Harvard's Beren Tennis Center.

After receiving a first round bye, Harvard easily defeated the Hokies from Virginia Tech on the second day of competition and headed into a showdown in the finals with topseeded and 11th-ranked Florida. In a hard-fought match, the Crimson triumphed 4-0.

The match against the Gators was highlighted by the incredible, emotional play of Blake at the No. 1 singles slot. Blake, outgunned the Florida's top player Dan Henkel, the No. 7 player in the nation, 6-4, 7-5.

The victory over Florida propelled the Crimson to the National Championships in Georgia, where the Crimson lost in the first round to the Bulldogs.

The lone victory for the Crimson that day came, not surprisingly, at the No. 4 position where sophomore Phil Tseng dominated his opponent 6-3, 6-3. Tseng's victory made the final Crimson record at the No. 4 position an incredible 30-4, a tribute to the depth of Harvard coach Dave Fish's team.

At the individual championships, Harvard was equally successful. In singles, Blake, not even ranked in the top 100 nationally, cruised through his opening two rounds. Blake, the Crimson's first All-American since 1991, lost a tough match in the round of sixteen to Virginia Tech's Oliver Mayo, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(2).

In the doubles competition, Arnold and Meringoff also romped through their opening rounds. In the third round, they fought hard but were simply overmatched against the No. 4 team of Ernesto Diaz and Albin Polonyi from Boise State.

Both the team and Arnold and Meringoff finished the season advancing as far as any Crimson players ever. Losing only Meringoff and fellow senior Dan Chung, the No. 6 singles player, the future looks awfully bright for Fish's squad.

Harvard Sports Stats 1995-96

Men's Tennis

Record: 21-9, 9-0 EITA

EITA Finish: First

Head Coach: David Fish

Captains: Todd Meringoff '96, Josh Hausman '97

Other Key Players: Tom Blake '98, Mitty Arnold '97, Phil Tseng '98, Kunj Majmudar '99