Season Recap: Strong Finish, Numerous Awards Put Exclamation Point on 2009 Campaign
A second-place Ivy League finish as well as numerous Ancient Eight
and ITA awards highlighted the 2008-09 season for the Harvard
men’s tennis team. The Crimson’s fall campaign was
marked by wins in both the ITA Northeast singles and doubles
brackets, while the spring season ended with a Crimson player
appearing in the NCAA championships for the second year in a
row.
Harvard finished the 2009 campaign with a 13-9 overall record,
including 5-2 in the Ivy League, tying for second with Cornell and
Yale in the Ancient Eight standings. Dave Fish, the Scott Mead
’77 Family Head Coach for Harvard Men’s Tennis, led the
Crimson to a ranking of 63 in the final ITA/Campbell’s
College Tennis Rankings as well as the Crimson’s first ECAC
Championship since the fall of 2004.
Award Season
When all was said and done, the Crimson faired more than adequate
in its end-of-season honors. Senior Chris Clayton wrapped up his
career by being named the Ivy League Player of the Year, the 10th
time a player has garnered the honor in the 23 years of its
existence. In addition, Clayton became the sixth Crimson player to
earn All-Ivy League first-team honors in singles for three
different years.
Sophomore Alexei Chijoff-Evans also garnered first-team All-Ivy
honors, as he and Clayton were unanimous selections. Chijoff-Evans
and Clayton were tabbed to the second team in doubles, while senior
Sasha Ermakov earned honorable mention in singles. Chijoff-Evans
was also named Academic All-Ivy.
The awards for Clayton and Chijoff-Evans continued to pile up when
the Intercollegiate Tennis Association bestowed its end-of-season
honors. For the Northeast Region, Clayton was named the
Farnsworth/ITA Senior Player of the Year, while Chijoff-Evans was
given the ITA Player to Watch award.
Clayton was honored for his work off the court with the ITA/Arthur
Ashe Award for Leadership & Sportsmanship for the Northeast
region, which goes to a player who has exhibited outstanding
sportsmanship and leadership as well as scholastic, extracurricular
and tennis achievements. He was also one of six regional nominees
up for the ITA/Rafael Osuna Sportsmanship Award, given to the
player who displays sportsmanship, character, excellent academics,
and has had outstanding tennis accomplishments.
Clayton was also named the John M. Barnaby Most Valuable Player as
voted on by teammates and was given the Ned Weld Above and Beyond
Award. Teammates voted Chijoff-Evans the Alden J. Bryan Most
Improved Player.
The NCAAs
Clayton was the lone Ivy League player to appear in postseason play
in either singles or doubles, as the co-captain, ranked 79th in the
second-to-last ITA rankings of the season, fell to eventual
semifinalist and No. 15 Blake Strode of Arkansas, 6-2, 6-2, during
the first round of action. Clayton also competed in the
championships as a junior where he also fell in the first
round.
The Fall Campaign
Harvard kicked off the new tennis year at the 2008 Napa Valley
Tennis Classic Sept. 12-14. Clayton scored the highlight of the
weekend, knocking off Nate Schnugg of Georgia, 6-4, 6-4. Schnugg
was ranked 12th in the preseason rankings that came out a week
earlier.
Chijoff-Evans and freshman Alistair Felton then won their
respective singles brackets at the USTA Invitational Sept. 19-21,
as Chijoff-Evans won the second-bracket title and Felton captured
the fifth. Harvard then competed at the Tom Fallon Invitational at
Notre Dame and the Columbia Classic Oct. 10-12. Crimson players
went 12-12 in singles and 6-3 in doubles at the Tom Fallon Invite.
In addition, Clayton competed at the D’Novo/ITA All-American
Championships Oct. 9-12, falling in both of his matches.
Fall play continued at the ITA Northeast Regionals Oct. 16-21 at
Yale, where Clayton and Chijoff-Evans won the doubles title and
Clayton captured the singles crown, becoming the first players in
four years to win regionals. Ermakov and junior Spencer Vegosen
advanced to the semifinals in doubles.
Vegosen, Felton and sophomore Aba Omodele-Lucien all advanced to
the semifinals of the ‘A’ bracket at the Big Green
Invitational Nov. 1-3, while freshman Mac McAnulty defeated
classmate Liinus Hietaniemi in the ‘B’ bracket
final.
Clayton and Chijoff-Evans won their first match at the ITA National
Intercollegiate Indoor Championships Nov. 6-9 at Virginia, while
Clayton fell in the first round of the singles bracket. In the last
action of the fall season for the Crimson, Clayton fell, 7-6(6),
7-5 in the consolation bracket to John Patrick Smith of Tennessee,
the 2008 NCAA runner-up.
The Spring Season
Before beginning dual play, the Crimson hosted the Harvard
Intersession Invite Jan. 23-25, going 15-13 overall in singles and
9-8 in doubles against Marist and Auburn-Montgomery, the 2008 NAIA
national champs.
Dual season began for Harvard at the ITA Kick-Off Weekend Jan.
31-Feb. 1 at Tennessee. The Crimson fell to the No. 8 host
Volunteers, 7-0, but defeated No. 52 Drake, 4-3, during the second
day of action. After Harvard won the doubles point, Chijoff-Evans
and junior Michael Hayes won their respective matches, while Felton
earned the win at No. 5 singles for the clinching point.
After a two-week break, it was back home to the Murr Center for the
inaugural ECAC Division I Indoor Tennis Championships Feb. 13-16.
Harvard began play during day two, defeating St. John’s, 4-0.
The excitement began to brew as the weekend wore on, as Harvard
squeaked out a win over Penn, 4-3, on the third day. Chijoff-Evans
won at No. 1 singles, the last match to finish, as he dropped the
first set, 6-3, before regrouping for a pair of 7-6 wins in the
next two sets, winning the third-set tiebreaker, 9-7, for the
win.
Felton then provided the heroics in the final against Columbia, as
he rallied after dropping the first set for a 10-8 win in the
second-set tiebreaker. With the score tied, 3-3, the rookie was
able to put the match away with a third-set win, 6-4, giving
Harvard its first ECAC crown since the fall of 2004.
The Crimson hit the road for a pair of matches against Big Ten
foes, falling to No. 19 Michigan, 5-2, Feb. 20 and to Northwestern,
7-0, Feb. 22. Clayton, making his first spring appearance, and
Chijoff-Evans won at No. 1 and 2 against the Wolverines, knocking
off ranked opponents in the process.
It was back home March 8 for a match against Marquette, as the
Crimson swept doubles and won five of six singles matches for a 6-1
win. From there, it was on to Virginia for a pair of road contests
March 14 and 15. The Crimson won slots 4-6 in singles but lost the
doubles point and the top three slots in falling to Old Dominion,
4-3. Harvard was able to rebound the next day against No. 49
William & Mary, taking the first four singles matches of the
day in straight sets for the victory. Senior co-captain Michael
Kalfayan won at No. 6 singles during both days to lead the
Crimson.
Against Portland March 20 at the Murr Center, the Crimson dropped
all three doubles matches, but reversed fortunes in singles play,
sweeping all six matches without dropping a set for the 6-1 win. It
was Harvard’s ninth straight win at home, dating back to
March 2008.
Some California sunshine was in store for Harvard on its annual
spring break trip, but after a 4-3 win over Loyola Marymount March
22, the Crimson dropped the final three matches heading into Ivy
League play. No. 37 San Diego State earned a solid 6-1 win March
25, while UC Irvine captured the last two matches of the day for a
4-3 March 26. No. 75 San Diego swept all three doubles and won four
of six singles matches for a 5-2 win March 28.
Harvard’s losing streak continued when the team opened Ivy
play at home, as the Crimson swept all three doubles matches
against Columbia April 3 before the Lions won the first four
singles matches for the win. Clayton and Chijoff-Evans won at the
top of the lineup for the final 4-3 margin. Harvard finally got
back in the win column the next day against Cornell, as
Clayton’s win at No. 1 – after dropping the opening set
– gave Harvard the victory, 4-3.
The next weekend on the road, Princeton shocked Harvard with a 4-3
win April 10, as the teams split the six singles matches after the
Tigers won the doubles point. Harvard went to 2-2 in Ivy League
play the next day at Penn, winning all three doubles matches and
singles slots 1-3 and 6 for the 5-2 win.
Harvard topped No. 73 Brown, 5-2, April 17 in its only match of the
year at the Beren Tennis Center, as Harvard won the second and
third doubles matches, followed by the No. 1-2 and 5-6 singles
matches. Two days later at Yale, the Crimson took down the No. 64
Bulldogs, 5-2, as this time Harvard lost two of three matches in
doubles before winning slots 1-5 in singles.
Harvard ended the regular season April 22 at Dartmouth, easily
overwhelming the Big Green in a 6-1 win, locking up second place in
the Ancient Eight behind first-place Columbia.
The Stats
Harvard players went a combined 149-135 in singles play and 66-69
in doubles action during the 2008-09 campaign. During the dual
season, Crimson players sported a 69-60 mark in singles and a 29-35
record in doubles.
Clayton went 10-4 at No. 1 singles, while Chijoff-Evans went 12-2
at No. 2 and 14-5 overall. They tied for the team lead along with
Felton and freshman Davis Mangham with 20 wins each. Mangham
boasted an 11-8 record during dual play, while Omodele-Lucien went
10-7. Felton and Ermakov posted eight and seven wins, respectively,
during dual play.
Chijoff-Evans had a team-high 21 wins in doubles play, going 21-14
overall. Hayes was second on the team with a 17-12 overall mark.
Clayton and Ermakov each had 16 wins, while Felton had 14. Mangham
and Omodele-Lucien also posted double-digits wins with 13 each.
Clayton and Chijoff-Evans were the top duo in doubles, going 16-9
overall during the year, including 6-6 in dual play. Felton and
Hayes had the most wins with eight, while Omodele-Lucien posted
four wins during dual play with Ermakov as well as Mangham.
Clayton ended his career with an 84-49 record in singles and a
39-30 mark in doubles. Ermakov posted a solid 66-37 mark in doubles
after being named to first-team All-Ivy in doubles three straight
years with Ashwin Kumar ’08. Ermakov also had a career 54-46
record in singles. Kalfayan had marks of 31-28 in singles and 17-18
in doubles, while senior Michael Libert appeared in six singles
matches and seven doubles matches throughout his career.
Up Next
Hayes, the only junior on the 2009 spring roster, will serve as
captain for the 2009-10 season. The Crimson will lose the services
of Clayton, Ermakov, Kalfayan and Libert, but will return a host of
underclassmen who played a significant role for the Crimson in 2009
and will be counted on even more come 2010.
