Yale Daily News

This weekend, Yale’s men’s and women’s tennis teams will hit the road to take on teams in upstate New York and New Jersey. The men’s squad will travel to Ithaca to play in the ECAC Indoor Championship, while the women’s squad will face off against Rutgers University (4–2, 0–0 Big Ten) in New Brunswick.

Last weekend, the Bulldogs had mixed results. The men’s team (4–2, 0-0 Ivy) fell to St John’s University (6–1, 0–0 Big East) last Saturday 2-5. The Blue and White’s points against the Terriers came courtesy of sophomores Shervin Dehmoubed ’25 and Theo Dean ’24, who won their respective singles matches. Nevertheless, the men’s team bounced back and secured a dominant 7–0 victory against Boston University (0–5, 0–0 Patriot) on Saturday, Feb. 12. 

This weekend, the men’s team will participate in the ECAC Indoor Championship in Ithaca, New York. All eight Ancient Eight teams will participate in the ECAC Championship. The competition will also be a litmus test for the 2021-22 Ivy League Tennis Championship, which kicks off in April.

The Bulldogs are the No. 6 seed in this weekend’s tournament and will have their first clash against No. 3 seed Cornell (7–0, 0–0 Ivy), on Friday, Feb. 18. Yale’s men’s tennis team has not found success against the Big Red in recent contests. The Elis have only won one of their last ten matches against Cornell with the most recent one coming in April 2013. This weekend also marks Yale’s first match-up against the Big Red since 2019. 

The winner of this match will face either Columbia (4–2, 0–0 Ivy) or Dartmouth (3–1, 0–0 Ivy) on Saturday, Feb. 19th. The ECAC Competition runs through Sunday, Feb. 20. 

Walker Oberg ’25 said that the team is excited and physically prepared for the match-ups ahead, noting that the team’s performance in the doubles matches is “coming together nicely” and puts the team in a stronger spot. 

Oberg also commented on the ECAC’s strategic importance for the team, especially because it offers a first glimpse at all Ivy League teams before the conference play begins. 

“The ECAC Tournament has all the Ivy teams and is a great indicator of where the teams are going into the Ivy season in a few months,” Luke Neal ’25 said. “The team is excited to play Cornell on their home court and has been training hard this week in preparation.” 

The women’s team (3–4, 0–0 Ivy) played the Women’s ECAC Indoor Championship last weekend, which was also held in Ithaca, New York. The team suffered a 2–4 loss against Columbia (5–2, 0–0 Ivy), recovered with a 4–2 win against Cornell (0–5, 0–0 Ivy) and fell 1–4 to Brown (3–4, 0–0 Ivy).

Despite last weekend’s losses, Mirabelle Brettkelly ’25 commented that the team’s spirit and drive to win hasn’t changed. “I think that the team’s mindset is to continue to stay united and be the loudest cheering team,” she said. 

In an interview with the News, women’s head coach Rachel Kahan said that the team is in a good state of mind. “We are focusing on a few things to improve on from last weekend and getting in a good week of practice,” she said.

After the ECAC Championship, the Bulldogs will journey to the East Brunswick Racquet Club in New Jersey to face Rutgers University on Saturday, Feb 19. 

Kahan said the match against Rutgers will be a good test for the team and will present an “opportunity to implement what we have been working on.” 

The men’s clash against Cornell in the ECAC Indoor Championship will take place this Friday at 6 p.m. The women’s face-off against Rutgers will start on Saturday at 3 p.m.