The men’s tennis team (9-13, 0-5 Ivy League) lost to No. 25 Columbia (12-6, 2-1) and Cornell (16-6, 3-1) over the weekend by scores of 4-0 in both matches. The Bears hosted the Ivy League contests at the Indoor Tennis Courts in the Pizzitola Sports Center.
“Cornell and Columbia are the best of the best in the Ivy League,” said Assistant Coach Rob Raines. “Despite the matches not going our way, we have shown that we can compete with some of the best in the conference at certain spots in the lineup, which is really encouraging.”
After the Lions won the first doubles match Saturday afternoon, the duo of Niraj Komatineni ’23 and Matthew Mu ’23 defeated their opponents 6-3. But Columbia won the third match to earn the doubles point and take a 1-0 lead going into singles. The Lions then won the first three singles matches to win 4-0.
“There were some good performances at some points, but the margins are pretty small at this stage,” said Ching Lam ’22. “They definitely took it to us at key moments and were able to perform at a more consistent level across the board.”
In Sunday’s contest against Cornell, Chun Lam ’24 and Sam Feldman ’25 were tied in their doubles match, but Cornell won the first two matches to claim the doubles point. The Big Red won three singles matches to beat the Bears 4-0. Feldman was in the midst of a winning singles match when the contest concluded, so his performance did not factor into the score. Chun Lam said that the matchup showed that “we are able to compete against the top schools, as we had many close matches.”
“As the season comes to an end, I really hope to see the team leave everything out on the court,” Raines said. “They have done a great job bringing high energy to every match, and I hope that trend continues with the last two matches.”
Brown will conclude its season next weekend when it faces No. 13 Harvard (15-4, 5-0) at home and Dartmouth (8-11, 0-5) on the road. Chun Lam said he hopes to “see if we’re able to keep testing these strong schools.”
“The key for us is to finish our season strong and (end) on a high note, giving the seniors a proper send off,” Ching Lam said. “We’ve worked hard all season, and I think this is where we showcase what we’ve been preparing for all year. Our team has made significant improvements since September, and I’m really excited to see how things shape up on Friday, our Senior Day, against Harvard and on Sunday against Dartmouth, our last match of the season.”
