The Light Blue men’s tennis team is facing two important overlapping tournaments this weekend as a preview to its later Ivy League matches. From Thursday, Oct. 6 to Sunday, Oct. 9, the Lions will compete in the All-American tournament in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and from Friday, Oct. 7 to Sunday, Oct. 9 the team will tackle the Columbia Classic on their home court, the Dick Savitt Tennis Center.
As much as the All-American tournament will be a good place to check the team’s 2011 form, the Columbia Classic will be a perfect scene for the Light Blue and Coach Bid Goswami to see where the other teams, including some of our league competitors, stand for this year.
“Brown and Penn are very good this year,” Goswami said. “Cornell had all their senior players graduate last year, but they have a strong freshman lineup now.”
The men’s tennis team has been sailing with a favorable wind so far. The Lions had a series of successful doubles matches at the Princeton Invitational, claimed several singles titles at the NTC Invitational led by the swift-footed freshman class, and practiced hard all last week to claim the home ground as their own den.
“The team has been working together very well,” Goswami continued. “The depth has been pretty good so far.”
Albeit lacking in Ivy League match experience, the freshman class has been swinging the racquet at its maximum potential during all of the tournaments the team has played. Under the veteran guidance of Goswami, the leadership of senior captains such as Haig Schneiderman and Rajeev Deb-Sen is the driving force for the new faces on the team.
“Upperclassmen, especially the team captains, are extremely helpful,” said freshman Eric Jacobs. “Like Haig Schneiderman, the senior captains keep the team together. They definitely are what help the team to become like a family.”
With the support of the upperclassmen and the young energy of the first-year Lions, the team hopes to prove its strength this weekend against some of its toughest rivals. Their upcoming tournaments will be an opportunity for the Lions to show whether or not they will continue their development.
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