“I think the biggest takeaway is that this team has the chance to do something special this year,” said head coach Chris Drake. “Yale men’s tennis hasn’t qualified for the NCAA tournament in a long time and we can do it. It’s a challenging goal but definitely achievable.”

This past weekend, Jim Ji ’27, Aidan Reilly ’25 and Eric Li ’26 led the charge, and all three were able to build off of their strong performances at the Penn Invitational last month.

First year Jim Ji came into Yale as a five-star recruit and the 2023 USTA Boys’ 18s National Clay Court Champion, and he has lived up to the billing. Drake said that Ji’s coachability, determination and focus set him apart on the court. The coaching staff has also been impressed by Ji’s commitment and professionalism in his day-to-day approach to the game. 

Ji credits his success thus far to the tremendous amount of time that he and the team have spent honing their skills, whether in the gym, on the track or on the court. He said that Drake and the upperclassmen have also helped him greatly in the transition to college tennis.

“Coach Drake has helped me pick out areas of improvement in my game, and he has also given me a ton of support and guidance during my first weeks here, whether that is for tennis or academics,” Ji told the News. “Likewise, my teammates have also been a great help. They have advised me on how to choose classes and also welcomed me wholeheartedly onto the team. I am very excited to see what the next four years hold.”

Meanwhile, Eric Li ’26 said he is looking to improve off of a solid first-year campaign in which he posted a 7–5 singles record and earned ITA Scholar Athlete Recognition. Li said that one of his major takeaways from last season was finding a way to put in extra work in addition to the required practices. So far, this year’s team has found ways to push past their limits. 

“Everyone is motivated to improve, so this year we are pushing very hard in the fall,” Li said. “We added extra lift and fitness days and it has paid off for us to start the season. As the season ramps up, we want to continue raising the standard of our practices and demand more from each other every single day so that it translates into our competitions.”

Aidan Reilly ’25 was the third Eli to secure a spot in the Super Regional tournament later this month. Reilly has been a consistent force for the Bulldogs in his first two seasons and has started off hot in his junior year. Drake attributed this to Reilly’s improved conditioning and practice standards. 

Overall, Drake said he has high expectations for this year’s team, which he based those off of the raised standard that the players have set for themselves. 

“This is a connected team with shared goals of elevating our program,” Drake told the News. “The guys have set a goal of trying to reach the NCAA tournament in May and they have a clear understanding of what it will take on a day-to-day basis to give us a chance to get there. The guys are holding each other to a higher standard and we need this to continue for the rest of the semester and into next year.”

On the Bulldog’s schedule, the ITA Super Regional will be followed by the Georgia Tech Invitational on Nov. 3.

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The team fell to the University of Michigan Wolverines and the Arizona State Sun Devils on Friday, lost to Ohio but tied with Arizona State on Saturday and lost to the Wolverines and Ohio State Buckeyes on Sunday. 

Despite the team’s rocky weekend, Shyla Aggarwal ’27 pulled through with an impressive win in the singles division against Rachel Hanford from Arizona State.

“I started off a little slow in the first day, but after getting used to the courts and settling in, I definitely am content with how I played and competed,” said Aggarwal. “It had been a long day and a long match so being able to secure the win was really fulfilling and felt like my work was paying off.”

Similarly, the Bulldogs barked back on Saturday when Erin Ha ’27 dominated Arizona State’s Patricija Spaka, garnering a consecutive two-set win. 

Coming off of her loss the previous day to Gala Mesochoritou from the University of Michigan, Ha said she was unsure about her performance on the first day but remained confident in her abilities and training. Ha then captured the win for the Blue and White in her singles match winning 6–2 and 6–2, effectively dominating the Sun Devil’s Spaka.

“I would say that the past weekend was definitely a learning experience,” said Ha. “There were a lot of amazing players from different universities that were out there competing and it really set a high bar for the upcoming matches. Losing is and will always be a tough pill to swallow, especially when I don’t think I was playing my best, but I felt that I was making the most out of it considering I also had a team to lean back on. Considering I only won one match, it goes on to show that I have a lot to work on.”

Ann Wright Guerry ’26, who won her first single set Friday, displayed a valiant effort but ultimately fell in the second and third sets against the University of Michigan’s Piper Charney. 

In their doubles match Saturday, Aggarwal and Guerry battled against Teah Chavez and Maddie Atway from Ohio State. They ultimately lost in a tiebreaker, allowing Ohio State to win 7–6.

“I really enjoyed the high level of competition, and I think we all did a good job competing really hard and growing [in] our games,” Guerry told the News. “Looking forward, I think we’ll try to implement what we’ve learned into our next matches and continue to grow and improve.” 

Coming off of this weekend, the Bulldogs are shaking off their losses and looking ahead. 

Shyla Aggarwal, Jamie Kim, Orly Ogilvy, Ann Wright Guerry, Mirabelle Brettekelly and Erin Ha travel to Cambridge, Mass. this weekend to compete in the ITA Northeast Regionals.

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The women’s tennis team (9–11, 1–2 Ivy) started their weekend in Cambridge, where they lost to Harvard (10–8, 2–1 Ivy) 1–4. Vivian Cheng ’23 was the sole Blue and White pointwinner, trouncing the Crimson’s Angel You 6–1, 6–3. 

“Vivian did a phenomenal job this weekend being extremely dominating in both performances,” head coach Rachel Kahan said.

Chelsea Kung ’23 battled through the third set, where she ultimately fell to Charlotte Owensby 3–6, 7–5, 3–6. Rebecca Lynn won her first set at No. 5 singles in a tiebreaker and was tied in the second set when she was pulled off the court after Harvard won their fourth point.

The Elis returned to New Haven to take on Dartmouth (4–11, 0–3 Ivy), looking for a win to close out their weekend.

The Bulldogs won the doubles point and three singles points, blanking the Big Green in the Bulldogs’ first home Ivy match of the season.

Doubles duos Cheng and Rhea Shrivastava ’23 and Ann Wright Guerry ’26 and Kung defeated Ashley Hess with Chidimma Okpara and Brooke Hess with Katie Weber with scores of 7–5 and 6–2, respectively.

“I think our team succeeded in keeping good energy and gritting out the match against Dartmouth,” Guerry said.

Both Kung and Cheng drew scores of 6–0, 6–2 against their Hanover counterparts.

The men’s tennis team kicked off their weekend at home, battling Harvard (15–5, 3–0 Ivy) to an unfortunate 2–5 loss for the Bulldogs. In doubles, Theo Dean ’24 and Aidan Reilly ’25 defeated Crimson Ronan Jachuck and Henry von der Schulenburg 6–2.

Dean was also victorious in singles, beating Harris Walker 6–2, 6–3. Luke Neal ’25 sealed the second point for the Blue and White when he toppled Alan Yim in a third set victory 6–4, 2–6, 6–2.

“On Friday against Harvard, Luke Neal did a great job at No. 5 singles,” captain Dean said. “He sat out the match against St. John’s, so to come back into the lineup and commit so well to the things he’s been working on recently was a great effort by him.”

On Sunday, the Elis closed out their weekend with a 7–0 blank at Dartmouth (11–10, 1–2 Ivy).

In doubles, Renaud Lefevre ’24 and Vignesh Gogineni ’26 beat Miles Groom and Waleed Qadir 6–0. Dean and Reilly extended their weekend doubles win streak to two, defeating Alex Knox-Jones and Logan Chang 6–1.

Dean, Reilly and Walker Oberg ’25 were straight set winners in singles. Gogineni, Michael Sun ’23 and Neal all eked out third set wins.

Next weekend, both the men’s and women’s teams will take on Penn on Saturday and Princeton on Sunday.

“We’re looking forward to challenging both Penn and Princeton,” Dean said. “Both of those teams beat us earlier this year but we’re tougher, fitter, and better than we were two months ago, so we’re excited to take it to both of these teams.”

Penn’s men’s team (10–8, 2–1 Ivy) is ranked third in the Ivy League, and Princeton’s men’s team (12–12, 0–3 Ivy) is at the bottom of the Ivy League rankings. Princeton’s women’s team (12–6, 3–0 Ivy) leads the Ivy League rankings, and Penn (11–6, 1–2 Ivy) is third in the league. Yale’s men’s team is ranked fifth in the league, and Yale’s women’s team is ranked seventh.

Yale’s men’s team is currently ranked No. 75 in national rankings.

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This game extended the Bulldogs’ win streak to three, following a successful run through central and northern California, where the team defeated California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (4–8, 0–1 Big Sky) and Santa Clara University (11–7, 3–2 West Coast). On Friday, the Bulldogs blanked the Johnnies, earning the doubles point and taking three singles points before the remaining matches were pulled.

“I’m really proud that our team was able to reverse last year’s result,” Walker Oberg ’25 said.

Last year, the team fell to the Johnnies 2–5 in Cullman-Heyman.

The doubles duos of Theo Dean ’24 and Aidan Reilly ’25 and Eric Li ’26 and Michael Sun ’23 dominated in doubles, gaining victories of 6–3 and 7–5 respectively. In singles, Vignesh Gogineni ’26 defeated Sergio Molina with a 6–3, 6–2 win.

“The highlight of our match was probably just winning my singles match and getting a fast point on the board,” said Gogineni.

Dean’s singles match against Diogo Marques went to the third set before being pulled after the Blue and White won their fourth point. Li defeated Giuseppe De Camelis and Oberg trounced Ryota Kaneda, taking away wins of 6–4, 6–4 and 6–3, 6–2, respectively.

“I think the highlight was Eric Li getting his first dual match win at No. 5 singles,” head coach Chris Drake said. “He was also able to clinch the match by earning our fourth point.”

Prior to the St. John’s match, the team competed throughout California, where Yale took on the University of California, Los Angeles, the University of California, Santa Barbara, Cal Poly and Santa Clara.

While they collected two losses in their first two matches of their California saga against UCLA and UCSB, the Bulldogs ended the trip with two wins against Santa Clara and St. John’s.

“Our win over Santa Clara was a nice statement as they beat us 4–0 last year,” Drake said. “This year we were able to turn the tables and beat them soundly. It was nice to see a direct comparison from last year and see the progress we’ve made.”

Going into their match against the Elis, UCSB was ranked No. 38 nationally. The Blue and White nearly eked out a win over the Gauchos, ultimately falling just 3–4. Similarly, the Elis almost toppled the No. 34 Bruins in Los Angeles, only losing by one point.

This weekend, the team will start conference play. They will host Harvard University on Friday and travel to Hanover to take on Dartmouth College on Sunday.

“I’m most excited for Penn because it’s a great opportunity against a highly ranked team on our home courts,” Gogineni said.

Columbia leads national rankings for the Ivy League, currently ranked at No. 10. They are trailed by Harvard at No. 11, Cornell at No. 29, Princeton at No. 49, Penn at No. 60 and Yale at No. 72.

Within the Ivy League, rankings shift slightly. Yale comes in at No. 6, ahead of just Brown and Dartmouth. Harvard tops the table.

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The Bulldogs kicked off spring break victorious, taking down St. John’s University (10–6, 4–0 Big East) 4–2 and Fordham University (6–6, 0–0 Patriot) 4–3. Yale lost the doubles point to St. John’s but took four lines of singles. Rhea Shrivastava ’23, Vivian Cheng ’23, Sophia Zaslow ’26 and Rebecca Lynn ’26 trounced the Red Storm in singles with scores of (6–1, 6–2), (6–2, 6–3), (6–2, 6–0) and (6–1, 6–0), respectively.

Against Fordham, Cheng and Shrivastava won the Blue and White a doubles match, defeating the Rams 6–4. Chelsea Kung ’23, Ann Wright Guerry ’26, Zaslow and Lynn earned the Bulldogs singles points against Fordham with scores of (6–1, 6–3), (6–1, 6–4), (7–6, 6–4) and (6–0, 6–4), respectively.

Following their victorious weekend, the team ventured to Orlando for their first match in their unsuccessful Florida tour.

“The highlight of the Florida trip was being able to spend so much time together without the usual pressures from classes and homework,” said Guerry. “We also got opportunities to play very talented teams and see how we measure up.”

The Bulldogs fell to the University of Central Florida (7–9, 0–0 American) 0–4. The Knights took two lines of doubles and three lines of singles to shut out the Blue and White.

Yale looked for redemption in their match against East Tennessee State (12–5, 3–0 SoCon). Kung and Guerry were the only victorious Elis against the Buccaneers, winning both singles and doubles. The duo defeated Fernanda Carvajal and Daniela Rivera 7–6, but the Blue and White lost their other two doubles matches, forfeiting the doubles point.

In singles, Kung defeated Mariya Shumeika in a third set tiebreaker (6–7, 6–4, 12–10). Guerry also took until the third set to crank out her (6–4, 1–7, 6–0) victory over Carvajal.

The Elis looked to their match against No. 31 Florida International University (12–3, 2–0 USA) as their final chance at a victory in the Sunshine State, but ultimately fell 5–2. Kung and Lynn were the only two Bulldogs to mark the score board, tallying scores of (6–0, 2–6, 6–3) and (6–3, 5–7, 10–8), respectively.

Back in Connecticut, the Blue and White had one final opportunity to tally a win ahead of Ivy conference play. They welcomed Boston University (12–4, 1–0 Patriot), who ultimately clenched a 5–2 win against their hosts.

Kung and Guerry followed their doubles victory against East Tennessee with a win over BU’s top doubles pair. Kung continued her success with a singles win by toppling Terrier Michelle Kleynerman (3–6, 6–1, 1–0). Shrivastava also posted a win, routing Shelly Yaloz 6–0, 7–5.

“Rhea played really well in the BU match and was able to execute what we were working on from Spring Break,” head coach Rachel Kahan said.

This weekend, the team will travel to Brown to take on the No. 57 Bears in their first Ivy League competition of the season. Yale is currently ranked sixth in the Ivy League, ahead of only Dartmouth and Cornell. Among Ivy League schools, Princeton ranks highest in the national rankings, coming in at No. 46. The Tigers are followed by Brown at No. 57, Harvard at No. 66 and Penn at No. 74.

“I am most looking forward to our Columbia match because we have been very close with them in the past,” said Mirabelle Brettkelly ’25.

Conference play will continue until the Bulldogs’ April 23 match against Cornell.

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After a rocky start to the tournament on Friday against Texas Tech, Yale retaliated in a landslide victory against Furman on Saturday. Unable to maintain their dominance, the Bulldogs ended the weekend on a low note with a loss to Alabama.

“Sophomore Jamie Kim competed really well this weekend,” said captain Rhea Shrivastava ’23. “She held her ground against some of the top teams in the nation and got our team the first point on the board against Furman with a decisive win which gave all of us confidence to fight in our matches and pull out that win for the team.”

The Blue and White kicked off their opening match against No. 47 Texas Tech late due to rain delays. The competition saw six singles matches and skipped over doubles. Although Shrivastava, Vivian Cheng ’23, Sophia Zaslow ’26 and Rebecca Lynn ’26 fell to their Texas Tech opponents, Ann Wright Guerry ’26 and Jamie Kim ’25 showed hope for third set clinches before being pulled off the court. Overall, the Raiders toppled the Bulldogs 4–0.

On Saturday, the Blue and White came back ready to fight. After losing the doubles point, Yale clinched four back-to-back points, securing a commanding 4–1 victory.

“Furman was an exciting match to get a win over them after just having lost a match to them the previous weekend,” head coach Rachel Kahan said.

Shrivastava defeated Ellie Schulson (6–1, 3–6, 6–4), Cheng toppled Sara Snyder (2–6, 6–3, 6–1), Zaslow beat Jess Dawson (6–2, 6–7 (5–7), 6–0) and Kim broke Madison Dillon (6–2, 6–2).

Shrivastava and Cheng were the sole Bulldogs doubles duo that snagged a win by toppling Dawson and Snyder 6–4.

“I think our team succeeded in improving our doubles execution and tactics,” Guerry said.

On Sunday, the Blue and White returned to the courts for a tough fight against the Crimson Tide. First-year Guerry earned Yale’s only point, defeating Alabama’s Petra Sedlackova.

“I want to shout out Ann Wright for having great energy and intensity in this tournament,” Zaslow said.

Going into the weekend, the Bulldogs were a team to watch, having made national ranking on Feb. 21 by coming in at No. 58. They have since fallen off the rankings. Recent competition joined the Bulldogs on the leaderboard last week, with Texas Tech ranked at No. 47 overall and Furman doubles team Dawson and Sara Isabel at No. 51 in doubles.

“We have an off weekend of matches so looking forward to getting some fitness in this week and playing an inter squad scrimmage over the weekend,” Kahan wrote to the News.

After the off weekend, the Bulldogs will return to Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center on March 11 to welcome St. John’s University (6–4, 1–0 Big East) and Fordham University (5–1, 0–0 Patriot).

The Bulldogs are just over one month away from the Ivy League competition. They will take on Brown in Providence on April 1.

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The Bulldogs fell just short of a win against the Lions on Friday, recording a score of 3–4. This marks an improvement from the Elis’ most recent 2–4 loss to Columbia on April 17.

“We will definitely focus on doubles this next week,” head coach Rachel Kahan wrote to the News. “We have 2 weeks of very tough competition and [are] looking forward to the opportunity to play highly ranked teams.”

The match against Columbia came down to a heartbreaker between Vivian Cheng ’23 and Columbia’s Sophia Wang. After losing the first set 6–4, Cheng rebounded in a tight 7–6 second set victory, but she ultimately fell 1–6 in the match-deciding third set.

Rhea Shrivastava ’23, Sophia Zaslow ’26 and Jamie Kim ’25 clinched singles points for the Blue and White. Shrivastava defeated Lion Julia Haynes (6–2, 6–2), Zaslow toppled Winta Tewolde (6–1, 7–6) and Kim bested Clarine Lerby (6–4, 6–4).

On Saturday, the Elis returned at full speed, pulling out a 4–3 victory over the Quakers. Going into the weekend, Penn was favored as the top team in the league. The Bulldogs most recently took on the Quakers on April 10 at home in the Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center, where the Blue and White fell 1–4.

“In the match against Penn, we showed a lot of resilience losing the doubles point, losing 5/6 first sets and ultimately being down 0–3 in the match and coming back to win 4–3,” Kahan said.

Kim was the only straight-set winner for the Bulldogs as she defeated Penn’s Iris Gallo 7–5, 6–3. Ann Guerry ’26, Cheng and Zaslow eked out third set victories in their singles matches, reporting scores of (2–6, 6–1, 6–0), (3–6, 7–6, 7–5) and (4–6, 6–4, 6–0), respectively.

“My favorite match of the weekend was against Penn when I lost the first set 4–6 and battled back to win 6–4, 4–0 to secure the third point for my team,” Zaslow said.

On Sunday, the Blue and White blanked Dartmouth 4–0, leaving the weekend victorious and with prospects for a fruitful Ivy season. The landslide result was a welcome change from the Elis’ most recent matchup against the Big Green that resulted in a tight 4–3 victory for the Bulldogs on April 22.

The doubles teams of Cheng and Chelsea Kung ’23 and Guerry and Shrivastava each defeated their opponents 6–4, earning Yale the doubles point.

In singles, Shrivastava defeated Dartmouth’s Ashley Hess (6–3, 6–2), Guerry bested Katie Weber (6–2, 6–1) and Zaslow beat Emily Zhou (6–3, 6–3).

“I’d like to shout out Vivian Cheng for clinching against Penn,” Guerry said. “Shout out to Sophia Zaslow for going undefeated in singles.”

This spring, Yale has previewed Ivy competition, battling Brown University, Columbia, Penn and Dartmouth over the past month. The Bulldogs will kick off Ivy conference competition on April 1 at Brown. 

This weekend, the team will travel to South Carolina to take on the University of South Carolina (1–2, 0–0 SEC) on Friday and Furman University (1–6, 0–0 SoCon) on Sunday.

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The women’s team eked out a 4–3 victory over Rutgers on Friday, continuing their winning streak against the Scarlet Knights.

“We all did a really good job of having a lot of high energy and cheering each other on constantly and loudly,” Ann Wright Guerry ’26 said.

All three doubles teams were victorious. Vivian Cheng ’23 and Chelsea Kung ’23 posted a 6–2 victory over Tara Chilton and Mai Nguyen. Rhea Shrivastava ’23 and Jamie Kim ’25 defeated Minchae Kim and Jackeline Lopez 6–2. And Guerry and Sophia Zaslow ’26 beat Amira Badawi and Daira Cardenas 6–2.

Kung, Guerry and Zaslow also posted singles victories against the Scarlet Knights, winning (6–1, 6–4), (6–1, 6–1) and (6–3, 6–3), respectively.

On Saturday, the women took on Indiana, taking revenge after losing their last matchup against the Hoosiers. This time the Elis posted an impressive 4–1 win.

“This weekend was an overall team effort, and we had a solid weekend against two very strong teams,” head coach Rachel Kahan said. “We did a great job especially against Indiana coming out with energy and making adjustments when we needed to.”

Shrivastava and Guerry defeated Hoosiers Mila Mejic and Lauren Lemonds 7–5, but the Hoosiers ultimately gained the doubles point. However, Kung, Guerry, Cheng and Zaslow won singles points for the Blue and White, with scores of (6–2, 6–4), (6–3, 6–4), (6–4, 6–1) and (6–4, 6–2), respectively.

“My highlight this week was winning my Indiana singles match because Indiana is a competitive team and this was a solid win,” Zaslow said.

The men’s team traveled to Wisconsin this weekend, where they took on Western Michigan and Wisconsin. The Bulldogs posted a 5–2 victory over Western Michigan on Friday to kick off their weekend.

“Renaud played fantastic doubles with a new partner (Vignesh) which was a great mental effort,” captain Theo Dean ’24 said. “As a team, the doubles point was a highlight on both days.” 

The Blue and White beat the Broncos out for the doubles point, marking wins at lines one and two. Renaud Lefevre ’24 and Vignesh Gogineni ’26 defeated Fynn Lohse and Arjun Honnappa 7–5 while Theo Dean and Aidan Reilly ’25 beat Brogan Pierce and Benjamin George 6–2.

In singles, Dean, Michael Sun ’23, Shervin Dehmoubed ’24 and Walker Oberg ’25 clinched wins of (6–4, 6–3), (6–1, 7–5), (6–4, 5–7, 1–0 (10–7)) and (6–1, 6–3), respectively.

“We had good competitive engagement from everyone, even guys not playing,” Oberg said. “We have room to improve on execution in singles.”

The Blue and White broke their four-match winning streak against the Badgers on Saturday. The Bulldogs’ winning streak included wins against Binghamton University (0–8, 0–0 America East), Fairfield University (0–3, 0–0 Metro Atlantic), Temple University (2–2, 0–0 American) and Western Michigan University.

“I think we succeeded in competing very hard throughout the majority of our lineup each day, and we fought hard to hang in the Wisconsin match when they had gotten ahead of us,” head coach Chris Drake wrote to the News. “We can improve our ability to sustain our focus and level against good teams. We were a bit up and down, but we will get there with more experience at this level.”

The Elis earned the doubles point after Lefevre and Gogineni defeated Gabriel Huber and Michael Minasyan 6–3, and Sun and Dehmoubed beat Robin Parts and Sebastian Vile 7–5. Dean clinched the only singles point for the team, routing Jared Pratt (6–4, 6–3).

“There’s still improvement as we had lapses in focus that led to critical losses,” Gogineni said. “I’m going to mainly focus on my serve during practice as I felt that was a big liability for me this weekend.”

The women will return to competition next weekend in Hanover, New Hampshire at the ECAC Championship. The men will compete in the Championship at Dartmouth College the following weekend.

The women will continue regular season play at the University of South Carolina (1–2, 0–0 SEC) on Feb. 17. The men will resume their regular season play against New Jersey Institute of Technology (4–0, 0–0 American East) on Friday, Mar. 3.

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The Blue and White battled the Bobcats on Saturday, posting a 7–0 commanding victory. The Elis then warmed up for spring Ivy competition in a scrimmage against Brown on Sunday.

“Against Quinnipiac, we had great energy across the courts, stuck to our own game styles, and kept an attitude of winning to do anything to get a point from the start,” Mirabelle Brettkelly ’25 wrote.

Across the board, Yale did not drop a single set against Quinnipiac on Saturday. Chelsea Kung ’23 cruised to a 6–0, 6–4 victory at No. 1 singles. Kung and Vivian Cheng ’23 defeated Quinnipiac’s No. 1 doubles duo of Alessia Truden and Kamilla Nella in a tiebreaker. 

Sizeable wins included Sophia Zaslow ’26 at No. 5 singles, who beat Bobcat Nikole Lisovyy 6–1, 6–1, and Jamie Kim ’25 at No. 6 singles, who defeated Andie Williams 6–0, 6–3.

“I loved the energy of competing with my team in my first season match,” Zaslow wrote to the News. “I think my team had great energy and intensity.”

The Bulldogs welcomed Brown to New Haven for a scrimmage on Sunday, with an unofficial team score of 3–4.

This was the Blue and White’s first Ivy competition since facing Dartmouth College in Hanover on Nov. 4, 2022. However, neither of these matchups count towards the Ivy League spring season 2023 standings.

“My personal highlight of the weekend was my match in the scrimmage against Brown, when I saved three match points and won the super tiebreak 14–12,” Zaslow said.

The Elis’ return comes after a successful fall. Kung and Cheng made it to the quarterfinals of ITA Super Regionals, while Kung also advanced to the quarterfinals in the singles draw and competed at the ITA All-American Championship.

“I think we did a really good job with our energy and handling nerves for our first match against Quinnipiac,” head coach Rachel Kahan said. “Against Brown, I think we did a good job of adjusting our game plan when needed. We will continue to work on our doubles leading up to our next matches and depth during the rallies.”

This weekend, the Bulldogs will welcome Rutgers University (2–0, 0–0 Big Ten) and Indiana University (3–0, 0–0 Big Ten) to Cullman-Heyman. 

Yale will attempt to continue their winning streak against Rutgers following their most recent 5–2 victory over the Scarlet Knights on Feb. 19, 2022. The Blue and White will also see if they can flip their narrow 3–4 loss against the Hoosiers on Feb. 5, 2022 into a victory this weekend.

“We’re going to target keeping our intensity and energy high to carry into our matches against Rutgers and Indiana,” rookie Ann Wright Guerry ’26 said.

The men’s team will kick off their team’s spring season with matches against Binghamton (0–4, 0–0 America East), Fairfield (0–0, 0–0 Metro Atlantic) and Temple (0–1, 0–0 American) this weekend. They will commence Ivy League play on April 7 against Harvard (2–0, 0–0 Ivy) at home.

The women will kick off Ivy League play on April 1 in Providence against Brown.

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The invitational ran from Friday to Monday, and the field included Vanderbilt University, the University of Memphis and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. The teams competed in individual play with no team scores. Yale and Memphis opened the invitational on Friday, with rookie Vignesh Gogineni ’26 boasting a formidable straight-set win of 6–4, 6–2 over Memphis’ Jeremy Taylor.

“Our team definitely succeeded with effort and determination as most matches this weekend were very close and hard fought,” Gogineni said. “But, I think one area the team could improve is consistency within our own routines and levels, along with energy across the board.”

Though the Bulldogs posted no other wins on Friday, Theo Dean ’24 and Aidan Reilly ’25 came close to clinching their doubles match, falling 5–7 to Pablo Alemany Malea and Pau Fanlo.

Dean and Renaud Lefevre ’24 fell in the third set of their singles matches, marking scores of 6–1, 6–7 (5), 4–6 and 6–2, 4–6, 3–6 respectively.

On Saturday, the Blue and White took on Charlotte. Michael Sun ’23, Luke Neal ’25 and Walker Oberg ’25 posted straight-set singles wins, with Sun toppling Charlotte’s Vasco Prata 6–4, 6–2, Neal defeating Matias Iturbe 6–3, 6–4 and Oberg beating Abhimanyu Vannemreddy 6–4, 6–4.

Neal and Gogineni earned a doubles win, dominating Iturbe and Ivan Dreycopp (6–3).

The Elis wrapped up the invitational on Sunday against Vanderbilt. Five of Yale’s seven lines of singles earned points. Senior Sun defeated Commodore Nathan Cox 6–1, 7–5, while rookie Gogineni beat Joubert Klopper 3–6, 6–4, 6–3. 

“Our team won six out of eight singles matches against Vanderbilt, even with players sick or out of the lineup,” Neal noted. “It was a good confidence booster to end the weekend and nice to have before we move into duels in two weeks.”

Neal drubbed Michael Ross 6–7 (4), 6–4, 3–1, Shervin Dehmoubed ’25 routed Macsen Sisam 6–4, 6–7 (8), 6–3 and Reilly thrashed Marcus Ferreira 6–1, 6–2.

The doubles duo of Lefevre and Dehmoubed defeated the Commodore team of Mitchell Deames and Ferreira 6–3.

“My personal highlight of the weekend was winning my doubles match with Shervin, because it was one of his first matches back after taking a semester off,” Lefevre said. “It was a lot of fun to be back on the court with him.”

The men will open their spring season on Jan. 28 versus Binghamton University in the Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center. The team will play their first Ivy competition against Harvard University at home on April 7.

“I’m probably most looking forward to our match against Columbia,” senior Sun said. “One of my best friends growing up plays on their team and it will be special to compete against him one last time before I’m done with tennis.”

The Bulldogs will play Columbia University on April 22 in New York City. Sun ended last season, his penultimate, ranked at No. 111 nationally.

Ivy competition for the men will continue until April 29, when they will close out conference play against Brown University.

“I’m excited to see this group compete as a team,” said men’s head coach Chris Drake. “College tennis is very unique in that it’s really one of the only times these players will compete as a group. Juniors, fall season and any out of season competitions are all individual and team matches are a completely different animal. The intensity of the competition is much higher and it really shows who the toughest competitors are. We feel that we can put out a very tough, competitive group.”

Yale’s women’s tennis team will kick off spring competition this Saturday against Quinnipiac in Cullman-Heyman.

The Bulldogs last played at the Dartmouth Invitational in November, where Sophia Zaslow ’26, Jamie Kim ’25 and captain Chelsea Kung ’23 earned singles victories.

“I’m really looking forward to all of our Ivy matches because I’ve heard the energy is unmatched,” said rookie Ann Wright Guerry ’26. “Over break, I tried to get as fit as possible so that I can make it through the long season.”

The Bulldogs will commence Ivy competition in Providence against Brown on April 1. While some players are gearing up for their first season of Ivy play, others are closing out their Yale careers.

“I am most looking forward to our first Ivy match against Brown because it will be the last Ivy season I have with my teammates and playing for Yale,” Chelsea Kung ’23 said. “Over break, I mostly focused on enjoying the last moments I had as a tennis player, practicing with some friends I grew up playing tennis with, knowing that it was all of our last seasons of college tennis.”

The women’s squad will end Ivy play on April 23 against Cornell University at home. Kung ended last season ranked at No. 73 nationally.

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