No. 46 Men's Tennis Upsets No. 34 Harvard on Senior Day

Saturday, April 25

Hanover, N.H.

2:00 PM

Dartmouth College

HARVARD

Big Green Men's Tennis Announces 2015-16 Schedule

No. 46 Men's Tennis Upsets No. 34 Harvard on Senior Day

4/25/2015 7:05:00 PM | Men's Tennis

By: Dartmouth

HANOVER, N.H. – In its final match of the 2015 season, the No. 46 Dartmouth men's tennis team upset No. 34 Harvard, 4-3, at the Boss Tennis Center on Senior Day on Saturday afternoon, defeating the Crimson for the first time in over two decades.

The Big Green wrapped up the year with a record of 14-10 and 5-2 in Ivy League play, while the visitors dipped to 19-7 and 5-2 in conference action. The two teams ended up tied for second in the league.

“This result, and the way it played out during the three-plus hours, is a very accurate reflection of what this team has been about all season,” head coach Chris Drake said. “We have had our backs against the wall on numerous occasions, and we have always refused to give in.”

Following a 6-4 Crimson victory at the No. 3 doubles and 6-3 win by senior Chris Kipouras and junior Dovydas Sakinis over Sebastian Beltrame and Nicky Hu at No. 1, it all came down to the No. 2 position. Junior Brendan Tannenbaum and sophomore George Wall defeated Denis Nguyen and Grant Soloman, 7-5, to give the home team a 1-0 lead heading into singles.

Freshman Ciro Riccardi made it 2-0 with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Beltrame at No. 3 but, after three straight Harvard victories, it was the Crimson that led, 3-2, with just two singles matches to go. Kipouras tied the score at three with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 win over Hu at No. 2, leaving it to No. 54 Sakinis and No. 43 Nguyen at the No. 1 positions. The Big Green junior dropped the first set, 7-5, before coming back to win the second, 6-4. A 6-2 third-set win ended the match with a Dartmouth victory.

“Down 3-2 today against a very good, very talented Harvard team, we needed to show our resilience once more, Drake continued. "I am so impressed with the fight, tenacity and toughness that our players showed in coming back today to beat a team that we hadn't beaten since 1993.”

#1 – No. 33 Sakinis and Kipouras (Dartmouth) def. Beltrame and Hu (Harvard), 6-3
#2 – Wall and Tannenbaum (Dartmouth) def. Nguyen and Soloman (Harvard), 7-5
#3 – Yeung and Thirouin (Harvard) def. Riccardi and Fliegner (Dartmouth), 6-4

#1 – No. 54 Sakinis (Dartmouth) def. No. 43 Nguyen (Harvard), 5-7, 6-4, 6-2
#2 – Kipouras (Dartmouth) def. Hu (Harvard), 4-6, 6-2, 6-4
#3 – Riccardi (Dartmouth) Beltrame (Harvard), 6-4, 6-1
#4 – Yeung (Harvard) def. Pedraza (Dartmouth), 6-4, 6-3
#5 – Tao (Harvard) def. Wall (Dartmouth), 7-5, 6-3
#6 – Steinroeder (Harvard) def. Schmidt (Dartmouth), 6-2, 6-4