Bulldogs capitalize on depth and determination

By Ben McGrath

The Yale men's tennis team doesn't suffer from a lack of talent. Five of last season's top six players are returning, four of whom compiled overall winning records. The current roster boasts the most talented Eli team captain Cullen McMahon, BK '97, has seen during his four year career. Injury is the main factor hindering the Bulldogs' attempt to better last season's 12-8 performance (5-4 EITA, 3-4 Ivy) and make a run at the Ivy League title.

Three players--Andrew Tang, SM '98, Reid Lerner, BR '99, and Scott Mayo, CC '00--have been plagued by various ailments over the past several months. Lerner will not be able to return to the courts until the end of spring break due to knee problems. Getting healthy, according to head coach Alex Dorato, will be the key to success for the Blue, which he describes as "a year smarter and a year better" than the 1995-96 squad.

"Minus the injuries, we're as good as we've ever been," McMahon said. His teammates have confirmed this assertion with their recent play. Jonathan Beardsley, DC '99, who was named EITA rookie of the year when he compiled a 15-5 record during his freshman campaign, advanced to the quarterfinals of the Princeton Invitational and was eliminated by the player who went on to win the tournament. Dorato also noted the impressive play of David Beynet, ES '99, who managed a surprising victory over Providence's number one player at the same tournament.

Just days later, McMahon turned in a strong showing, earning a first place finish in the B division of the Harvard Invitational, and defeating two Princeton players and one Harvard player along the way. The Crimson Challenge, also held at Harvard, was witness to Eli skill and superiority. Beardsley advanced to the semifinals before losing to the number one seed from Clemson. Beardsley's stellar performance qualified him for the National Indoors tournament, held in Dallas, where he was narrowly defeated by the tenth and fourteenth ranked players in the country.

The rest of the squad set to work on Sun., Feb. 16, when the Bulldogs hosted Colgate in their first match of the regular season, and won decisively, 5-2. Because Colgate is not one of the stronger opponents on Yale's schedule, Dorato decided to give several of his key players a break. Four of the starting six were not in the doubles lineup against Colgate, while the fifth and sixth singles spots were filled by rookies Kevin Park, SY '00, and Bartol Letica, TC '00.

Tang, who had been sidelined since November due to a shoulder injury, struggled in his first match back, filling in for Beardsley at number one singles and losing in three sets. Despite the team victory, Mark Warnken, TD '98, who played "very well," according to Dorato, in his victory at second singles, described the match as "a sub-par performance." McMahon felt that the Elis "showed [their] true colors in the singles matches, but were rusty in the doubles."

Aside from health, the other question mark for the Blue this season will be the success of the doubles pairings. Though the three doubles matches begin each count for just one point, Warnken noted that, since the doubles matches precede the six singles matches, their one point can play a very large psychological role.

The Bulldogs lost the doubles point to the weaker Colgate squad, but according to Warnken, "in the future, we're going to need that point." McMahon agreed, noting that winning these points would have a large impact on the team's prospects for success, and will rest primarily on the team's ability to find three combinations that work well together. Mayo is among the new players expected to contribute in this regard. McMahon descibes him as "a natural server and volleyer," two characteristics that should help him make a forceful impact in doubles play this season.

Though the Elis aspire to capture the Ivy title, talented Harvard--last year's EITA and Ivy champion--is the probable favorite, with Columbia a likely pick for second. It will be a "very tight Ivy race," said Dorato. "We're certainly in the mix for making a run at the title." McMahon echoed his coach's high expectations. "I don't think any member of the team will be satisfied with anything less than an Ivy ring," he said.

Harvard may be the Bulldogs' toughest competitor in the league, but McMahon believes that the crucial match of the Elis' season will be against Princeton at home on April 5. The Princeton match is "undoubtably the pivotal match--it sets the tone for the rest of the Ivy league matches," said McMahon. In the meantime, Yale will head out west for some valuable spring break playing experience against several top fifty teams, including Tulsa, San Diego, and San Diego State. Yale then returns home to face Minnesota, who advanced to the final 16 last year. Despite the tough competition, Dorato remains confident in his players. "We could knock off any one of them," he said.

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