CAMBRIDGE, MA – Rain clouds and cool temperatures moved the Siena Men's Tennis Team inside the confines of the Murr Center for a practice session on Thursday in preparation for their first NCAA Tournament First Round match up with host and nationally-ranked #11 Harvard on Friday at 2 p.m. at Beren Tennis Center.
Arizona State (13-11) and Illinois (19-11) will play in the earlier match at 11 a.m. with the winners of each round set to play Saturday at 2 p.m. for the right to move onto the Sweet 16.
The Saints (13-10), who have won four in a row, are spearheaded by a pair of 20-game winners in singles competition and a slew of consistent performers in doubles play.
MAAC Player of the Year and junior
Dante Russo (24-6 from the singles #1 position) and MAAC Rookie of the Year and freshman
Edward Vo (23-4 mostly from the singles #5 position) lead the team in wins while senior
Agustin Suarez (18 wins in singles) and MAAC Championship Most Outstanding Player and junior
Jose Pablo Davila (17 wins in singles) have provided stability to the lineup all season.
Russo and Vo (17 wins as a pairing together) were All-MAAC First Teamers on the doubles #1 team while
Tomas del Olmo and Davila (18 wins as a pairing together) were named to the All-MAAC Second Team for the doubles #3 flight.
Harvard (19-5) will be making its 28
th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and will host for a second consecutive season.
The Crimson are coming off back-to-back Ivy League Championships in which they went undefeated at 7-0 in conference play in consecutive years for the first time since the 2003-2004 seasons.
Harvard has two nationally-ranked singles players in #35 junior Henry von der Schulenburg (18-6) and #37 senior Harris Walker (29-12).
Sophomore Daniel Milavsky (16-11) and Walker are also ranked #62 in the doubles poll.
Of Harvard's 19 victories, 11 have come versus nationally-ranked opponents including its previous four against No. 52 Princeton (won 6-1), No. 50 Penn (won 4-2), No. 11 Columbia (won 4-3) and No. 36 Cornell (won 4-0).
Admission to the matches are free, but can be viewed on
https://www.youtube.com/@CrackedRacquets/streams
