A little rain couldn’t dampen Cornell’s parade. The university’s A team (pictured, above) overcame inclement weather—and a valiant effort from runners-up Stony Brook University A—to capture this year's USTA Eastern Tennis On Campus Sectionals Tournament, held October 19-20 at the Cary Leeds Center for Tennis & Learning in the Bronx. In doing so, they successfully defended their title from last year’s event and earned an automatic berth to the Tennis On Campus National Championships, which kicks off April 1, 2020 at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida. Stony Brook, third place finishers Columbia A, and semifinalists Fordham A also received trips to Nationals based on their results at the competition.

“It’s great as always coming to Sectionals,” Cornell captain Olia Javidi said after the team’s victory. ADVERTISEMENT “It’s nice to get off our campus and also nice to interact with other colleges. So it’s always a great experience.”

Javidi’s co-captain Kevin Zhang estimated half of their club’s roster at Sectionals this year was made up of rookies, which imbued the Cornell crew with a fresh energy and helped propel them to the win. “We’re sort of revamping our team culture this season,” he said. “Part of that is having more social events, and also definitely emphasizing how fun tournaments like this are.”

Added Javidi: “We were excited to see our new freshmen play here. They fit seamlessly into our team. They showed a lot of grit and spirit.”

In all, 22 teams from 14 colleges competed in the championship. University of Buffalo B captured Team Sportsmanship honors, while University of Rochester’s Kevin Shan received the Captain of the Tournament Award. “I really appreciate the recognition,” Shan said. “I just show up and try to be a good captain for my team as well as a good sportsman for the whole event. I really respect what the tournament directors do here. It’s a tough one to organize, and I try to make it as easy as possible for them.”

For Shan, the prize was just the cherry on top of his entire Tennis On Campus sundae. “I played tennis growing up—it was my life,” he said. “I decided not to play varsity…varsity sports aren’t for everyone, and so, having this ability to still compete at a high level [with Tennis On Campus] is fantastic, especially when so many of us did that [before college].”

Zhang echoed that sentiment. “TOC is a lot of fun,” he said. “In the case where maybe you want to prioritize your studies [over varsity sports] but still want to be able to play at a high level, this is definitely a good way to do it.”

For more information on Tennis On Campus in the USTA Eastern section, click here.

RESULTS

Gold Bracket
Champions: Cornell A
Runners-up: Stony Brook A
Semifinalists: Columbia A (third place), Fordham A

Silver Bracket:
Champions: Syracuse A
Runners-up: Buffalo A
Semifinalists: St. John’s A (third place), Rutgers A

Bronze Bracket:
Champions: Stony Brook B
Runners-up: Syracuse B
Semifinalists: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute B (third place), Siena

Check out a video recap of the event below: