Women's Tennis

The Harvard women's tennis team devastated Penn, 7-2, Saturday in Philadelphia to open what promises to be its most successful season in recent history.

Elizabeth Evans, the Crimson's top-ranked player, started things off with a one-sided 6-1, 6-1 victory.

Harvard's next four singles players--Kathy Vigna, Robin Boss, Erika Smith, and Cyndy Austrian--then followed suit, storming through their quaking opponents without losing a set.

Penn, however, made a dent in the Crimson juggernaut at number six, when Captain Debbie Kaufman, was defeated 6-1, 6-4.

"She was disappointed," said Vigna of Kaufman, "but she had a tough match-the girl she played played really well."

The Cantabs went on to take two of the three doubles matches with Vigna and Smith recording an impressive 6-1, 6-1 victory at number two.

Although Harvard Coach Don Usher considers Penn the third best team in the Ivies, behind the Crimson and Princeton, the netwomen were expecting an even more crushing victory than the one they delivered.

"We thought we were going to win 9-0," said Vigna, "but since it was our first match, everybody was a little tense out there."

Realizing the kinks that have to be worked out early in the season, Usher was pleased with his team's performance.

"Most of the kids haven't played a match since November, so we were a little rusty," Usher explained. "I look at it as a tune-up for our spring trip."

The Cantabs leave Wednesday for the inviting California coast and the not-so-inviting prospect of trading shots with numbers one and two nationally--Stanford and USC.