PRINCETON, N.J. -- The Ivy League opens the 2017-18 campaign with seven Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) ranked singles players, two ITA ranked doubles pairs and five TennisRecruiting.net noted recruiting classes. The Ivy League trails only the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) (5), Big Ten Conference (5) and Pac-12 Conference (5) with four Top 25-ranked recruiting classes. Columbia, which has won four-straight Ivy League titles and advanced to four-straight NCAA tournaments, claims the League’s top-ranked singles player (No. 38 Victor Pham), doubles pair (No. 26 Victor Pham and Jackie Tang) and recruiting class (No. 6).  
 
BROWN
2016-17 Record: 11-11 (0-7 Ivy)
Season Opener: Ivy Plus Tournament & Yale Tournament, September 22-24
 
Despite graduating its Second Team All-Ivy doubles pair of Lucas Da Silveira and Gregory Garcia, Brown looks poised to improve under second-year head coach Tim Gray. The Bears return their top five win-getters from a year ago, along with their primary No. 1-3 singles players in seniors Peter Tarwid, Jack Haworth and Aaron Sandberg. Sophomore Jacob Walker paced the team in singles victories with a 22-6 record, while competing at No. 4-6. Haworth led the team in doubles wins with a 19-9 record split between the No. 2 and No. 3 doubles positions. Sandberg ranked third on the team in singles wins with an 18-16 mark across the No. 1-3 slots.
 
COLUMBIA
2016-17 Record: 18-5 (6-1 Ivy)
Season Opener: Newport Grass Invitational, September 15-17
 
Winners of four-straight Ivy League crowns, the Lions are 1-of-2 Ancient Eight programs to return a pair of ITA ranked singles players in No. 38 junior Victor Pham, the top-ranked Ivy returner, and No. 73 sophomore Jackie Tang. The duo is also ranked as the No. 26 doubles pair by the ITA and own four All-Ivy honors between them. Pham is 1-of-2 returners to have garnered First Team All-Ivy recognition in singles and doubles in 2017. Though Columbia will feel the loss of three-time First Team All-Ivy selection and No. 1 singles player Shawn Hadavi and First-Team All-Ivy doubles ace Richard Pham, the Lions—who concluded the 2016-17 season ranked No. 25—should challenge for their fifth-straight NCAA tournament berth.
 
CORNELL
2016-17 Record: 22-4 (6-1 Ivy)
Season Opener: Canada F7 Futures, September 9-10
 
Coming off its second Ivy League title and first NCAA tournament at-large bid, Cornell joins Columbia as the second Ancient Eight program to return a pair of ITA ranked singles players in No. 57 sophomore Lev Kazakov and No. 109 junior David Volfson. The tandem were the Big Red’s primary No. 1 and No. 2 singles players last spring, with Kazakov earning Second Team All-Ivy accolades for his efforts. Cornell graduated a trio of All-Ivy accolades in Colin Sinclair and Chris Vrabel, but should continue to compete on the national stage after concluding the 2016-17 campaign ranked No. 26. Four Big Red student-athletes opened the 2017-18 season at the Canada F7 Futures event on Sept. 9-10.
 
DARTMOUTH
2016-17 Record: 11-14 (3-4 Ivy)
Season Opener: Silverado Invitational, September 8-10
 
Dartmouth, which has finished 5-2-or-better in the Ivy League in three of the past four seasons, returns its lone All-Ivy performer from 2016-17 in First Team All-Ivy singles player sophomore Charlie Broom. Broom is also the reigning Ivy League Rookie of the Year and the No. 100 singles player in the ITA rankings. Broom is off to a 2-1 start in singles play, following the Big Green’s season-opening Silverado Invitational on Sept. 8-10. Senior Max Fliegner joins Broom to make up the ITA’s No. 44-ranked doubles tandem. Broom and Fliegner went 1-2 at the Silverado Invitational, including a win over UNLV’s Courtney Lock and Evaldo Neto (6-4).
 
HARVARD
2016-17 Record: 18-9 (6-1 Ivy)
Season Opener: Harvard Chowder Fest, September 15-17
 
Entering its 42nd season under head coach David Fish, Harvard will look to return to the NCAA tournament for the 24th time under his tutelage and the fifth time since 2012. Crimson senior Kenny Tao, a First Team All-Ivy selection in both singles and doubles in 2016-17, opens the 2017-18 campaign as the ITA’s No. 65-ranked singles player. He joins Columbia’s Victor Pham as 1-of-2 returning Ivies to have garnered First Team All-Ivy honors in both singles and doubles last season. In Tao (21-10) and senior Jean Thirouin (22-10), the Crimson return a pair of 20-win getters from their Ivy League championship season, who competed primarily in the No. 1-3 singles positions.
 
PENN
2016-17 Record: 14-12 (1-6 Ivy)
Season Opener: Penn Invitational, Sept. 15-17
 
A decade removed from their last top four finish in the Ancient Eight (2007-08), the Quakers will battle to return to the top half of the Ivy League. Despite a 1-6 record a year ago, Penn returns a pair of All-Ivy singles players in junior Kyle Mautner and senior Josh Pompan. Mautner was a First-Team All-Ivy honoree after posting a 14-8 record in the No. 1 position, while Pompan was a Second-Team All-Ivy selection with a 17-5 mark primarily in the No. 2 slot. The Quakers also welcome back their top doubles player in senior Nicholai Westergaard who has played with a range of partners at the No. 1 position during his three years in a Penn uniform.
 
PRINCETON
2016-17 Record: 14-12 (4-3 Ivy)
Season Opener: Duke James Bonk Invite, September 15-17
 
Princeton has finished among the top four in the Ancient Eight in 4-of-5 seasons under head coach Billy Pate and is two years removed from the program’s highest national ranking since 1980 and first NCAA tournament berth since 1998. The Tigers graduated 3-of-4 All-Ivy honorees from a year ago, but do return two-time Second-Team All-Ivy doubles player senior Luke Gamble. Gamble has tallied 20-or-more doubles wins in each of his three seasons in a Princeton uniform. Gamble and fellow senior Kial Kaiser filled the No. 3 and No. 4 singles positions for the Tigers a year ago, behind a pair of Second Team All-Ivy players in Alex Day and Tom Colautti.  
 
YALE
2016-17 Record: 16-9 (2-5 Ivy)
Season Opener: Penn Invitational, September 15-17
 
A youthful Bulldog club, whose top returner is a sophomore, looks to continue to climb the Ivy League ranks in 2017-18. Dylan King opens his sophomore campaign as the ITA’s No. 94-ranked singles player—following a 32-4 overall mark as a freshman, which garnered him Second Team All-Ivy accolades. Senior Ziqi Wang, Yale’s primary No. 2 singles player behind 2016-17 Ivy League Player of the Year Tyler Lu, also returns for the Bulldogs. Wang posted a 20-9 singles record a year ago. Sophomore Andrew Heller, who went 22-15 in singles play in 2016-17 at the No. 4-6 positions, gives Yale three 20-win returners heading into the 2017-18 campaign.
 
TennisRecruiting.net Top 25 Men’s Recruiting Classes
No. 6 Columbia
No. 11 Dartmouth
No. 14 Princeton
No. 24 Penn
RV Yale