Netwomen Fall, 6-3

For the first time this school year, the Harvard women's tennis team came up short in team competition, losing to a strong squad from Penn, 6-3, yesterday evening in Palmer Dixon.

One of the Quakers remarked that the match was like "old home week" since many of the players already knew each other.

1 singles--S. Zasloff (Penn) def. M. Roberts, 3-6, 6-2, 6-0

2 singles--L. Pierpont (H) def. J. Bernstein, 6-3, 6-4

3 singles--L. Silverstein (Penn) def. M. Meyer, 6-2, 6-4

4 singles--M. Williams (Penn) def. S. Roberts, 6-3, 6-1

5 singles--K. Ditzler (H) def. B. Lee, 6-1, 6-3

6 singles--S. Silver (Penn) def. L. Miller, 6-1, 6-4

1 doubles--S. Zasloff and L. Silverstein (Penn) def. M. Roberts and S. Roberts, 7-5, 6-1

2 doubles--K. Ditzler and L. Pierpont (H) def. N. Post and B. Lee, 6-1, 6-3

3 doubles--M. Williams and G. Light (Penn) def. M. Meyer and L. Miller, 5-7, 6-4, 7-6

But the Crimson six were disappointed at this friendly gathering. Dropping four out of the six singles, the Harvard netwomen needed to sweep the doubles to carry home a victory. And they didn't make it.

The doubles contests started off well for Harvard. The Roberts sisters lost a close first set, 5-7, while teammates in the second and third slots tucked a set under each of their belts.

Katie Ditzler and Libby Pierpont, playing second doubles, eliminated Nancy Post and Bekki Lee without much trouble, 6-1, 6-3. After emerging from the courts flushed and grinning, all Pierpont said was, "Katie Ditzler is a blast to play with."

The Roberts duet did not have quite as much fun on the courts, as they quickly fell behind Sally Zasloff and Lisa Silverstein in the second set. The Roberts could not capture the winning form they showed in the fall, and they lost, 5-7, 1-6.

Once Harvard succumbed in the first doubles, the match was all wrapped up for the Quakers, but the most exciting contest of the day was still in progress.

In the third doubles, Meg Meyer and Leslie Miller captured the first set, squeaking by Maura Williams and Gwenn Light, 7-5, before dropping the second, 4-6. With the game score in the final set at six-all, the duo from Penn won a nine-point tiebreaker, 5-2, to win the contest and bring the match contest to 6-3.

In singles competition, only captain Ditzler and Pierpont recorded wins. Pierpont (number two) convincingly defeated Jan Berstein 3 and 4, while Ditzler blasted Bekki Lee, 6-1, 6-3, in the fifth slot.

Martha Roberts relinquished a one-set lead, losing to Zasloff, 3-6, 6-2, 6-0. Third seed Meyer surrendered to Silverstein, 6-2, 6-4. Both clad in light blue and white tennis dresses and sporting dark brown pony tails, spectators could barely tell the Quaker from the Crimson.

Number four, Sally Roberts, played what she described as "the most disastrous match of my entire career," falling to Williams, 6-3, 6-1. Miller fared little better, as Sue Silver (a transfer from Smith where she played number one on the tennis team) handed her a 6-1, 6-4 defeat.

Coach Peter Felske was disappointed by the loss, and said, "I certainly think that if we played tomorrow it would be a different story." He added that it was "time to go back to the drawing board."

"We just have to work a little harder," he concluded.