Bland, Henikoff Ousted at NCAAs

Harvard's Kristin Bland and Jamie Henikoff were eliminated from the NCAA women's tennis doubles tournament on Monday. Bland and Henikoff, the nation's 29th-ranked doubles team, dropped a 6-3, 6-3 decision to the University of Houston's Stina Almgren and Kathy Foxworth, ranked 12th in the country.

The Crimson duo was one of 32 teams invited to participate for the NCAA doubles title.

Stanford, the number-two seed in the tournament, defeated top-ranked Florida, 5-2, to regain the NCAA championship it last won in 1986.

Overall, the Harvard women's team was eliminated in the first round of the tourney's main draw. The Crimson, seeded 20th, dropped a 5-1 decision to Trinity, the 13th seed.

Bland and Henikoff finished the season with a 25-12 mark. The duo had an excellent season, taking Trinity's Ann Hulbert and Jane Holden, the fourth-ranked team in the nation, to three sets.

The Crimson duo also won the Rolex ITCA Northeast Regional Championship during the fall season, giving it an automatic bid to the Indoor National Tournament in Minnesota in February.

In Other News...

Harvard's Arkie Engle and Mark Leschly received a bid to the NCAA men's doubles championship. The tournament will take place next week in Georgia.

Engle was also named Region I senior player of the year, and he collected the senior Region I Arthur Ashe Sportsmanship award.