Netwomen Drop Four In South

The south extended very little hospitality to the Harvard women's tennis team on its spring trip to the Carolinas.

Opening their season at Clemson's Lady Tiger Invitational in South Carolina, the netwomen downed Tulane in the first round of play, but losses to Florida State and Alabama knocked the Crimson out of the double-elimination tourney.

Subsequent losses to the University of South Carolina, ranked seventh in the nation, and the University of North Carolina and a win over Wake Forest brought the squad's spring record to a disappointing 2-4.

Injuries to freshmen Debbie Kaufman, the number-five player, and Tracy Kunicha, one of the third doubles players, troubled the Crimson in the early matches of the 11-day trip.

"The injuries put a damper on the trip. We had to start a couple of matches at love-two because of defaults." Tiina Bougas, the team's number-one singles player, said.

"Coach emphasized that this was a pre-season training trip. He was not that worried about losing the matches," Bougas said. "We were just supposed to get 'match tough. Some of the other teams had already played as many as 40 matches."

The netwomen open their Ivy League season this afternoon against Penn at the new tennis complex.