The Columbia Lions’ men’s tennis team won its fifth consecutive Ivy League title with a 4-0 victory over Cornell on Saturday in Ithica, N.Y.
The match was originally slated to be played outdoors, but windy conditions forced the match to be moved indoors in the middle of doubles action. After the two squads split the first and third doubles matches, the doubles point would be decided by second doubles.
Columbia’s Jack Lin and William Matheson held off Joseph McAllister and David Volfson 7-5 to give the Lions the 1-0 edge.
The Lions then raced out to leads in singles play, winning the first set in five of the six flights to take control of the match. Austen Huang defeated Pietro Rimondini 6-3, 6-3 at fifth singles to bolster the Columbia advantage.
Adam Ambrozy then won 6-4, 6-3 against Michal Rolski at fourth singles to bring Columbia within one win of the conference title.
That win would come from Lin, who downed Lev Kazakov 7-5, 6-4 at third singles to seal the Columbia victory.
“We have been ranked as high as No. 5 during the season, which can be scary. I knew we had a good team, but you never really know how good we can be,” said Columbia Tennis Alumni and Friends Head Coach Bid Goswami. “We did our part all season long, we had to be tough, hungry and buy in, and the boys came through and were clutch when they needed to be.”
Columbia now awaits Tuesday's selection show to find out if it will be hosting an NCAA Tournament first-round match, or heading on the road.
