Women Notch Two Shutouts

In a year Coach Don Usher has called "the most successful in Harvard history," this might prove to be a season of firsts for the Crimson women's tennis team.

After this weekend's 9-0 shutouts of Cornell and Syracuse, the squad needs just one more victory to lock up at least a share of the Ivy League Crown, with two matches to go in the season.

Wins over Dartmouth Tuesday and Princeton Sunday will assure Harvard of its first-ever sole possession of the Ivy crown.

Currently ranked 15th nationally and number one in the East, a victory at Princeton will guarantee a bid to the Nationals, next month at UCLA. No Harvard women's tennis team has ever been nationally ranked, or invited to the national championships.

"This year's team is much better than last year's," said junior Elizabeth Evans, first singles player. "We're pretty confident right now."

This was evident during Friday's match against Cornell, when the Harvard team won every match but one in straight sets, despite the absence of Evans, who is ranked 15th in the country.

While tougher than the Cornell match, Syracuse also posed little trouble for the Crimson netwomen.

"We expected a lot more competition from Syracuse," said junior Captain Debbi Kaufman. "We really surprised ourselves."

Usher said yesterday that if anything; the team underestimates how well it can play.

"This season we've come close to upsetting some of the best teams in the country," said Usher. "If we play our best, I think we have a chance at competing with all but the top two teams in the country during the Nationals."

The possibility of reaching the Nationals, if anything, has made them work even harder," Usher added. "In fact, the only thing that is holding us back from playing up to full potential is not enough strong competition on a regular basis."

If the squad makes it to the Nationals-as expected-next month, Usher will finally see the competition he desires.