Crimson Netwomen Take 13th in ITCA

They say March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.

But for the Harvard women's tennis team, March comes in like a lion and goes out like a tiger.

Harvard opened its March schedule by participating in the Intercollegiate Tennis Conference Association Team tournament, which included 14 of the top 25 teams in the nation, this weekend in Wisconsin.

Harvard went 1-3 during the four-day tournament to place 13th in the tournament. Stanford, ranked first in the country, defeated number-two Florida in the finals, 6-0.

Harvard lost to to ninth-ranked Kentucky, 5-1, and Wisconsin, 5-2. But the Crimson bounced back in the consolation quarterfinals to defeat 15th-ranked SMU.

The Crimson will not play another match until the end of March, when it travels to California during the end of the month. The trip will include several matches agaisnt top 20 teams.

It's a tough month.

In the loss to Kentucky, Harvard received strong perfomances from all of its players. While Harvard came away with only one victory, all six of the matches were close.

The Crimson's lone win came from Co-Captain Kathy Mulvehal, who lost the first set to Lene Holm Larsen, 6-4, but rallied to capture the final two sets, 7-6 (9-7), 6-2.

Mulvehal was the only Crimson player to go undefeated in singles play during the tournament.

Other tight matches included Sophomore Amy deLone, who fell to Jane Yates in three sets, and sophomore Jamie Henikoff, who lost to Caroline Knudten, 6-1, 7-6 (7-4).

The loss dropped the Crimson to the consolation round, where it was upset by host Wisconsin.

Harvard's two wins came from Henikoff and Mulvehal. Henikoff defeated Claudia Bessie, 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 6-1, while Mulvehal captured a 6-3, 6-4 triumph.

SMU, known for several top singles players, lost four singles matches to the Crimson. Harvard won matches three through six to take a 4-2 lead going into doubles action.

At number-one singles Christina Dragomirescu still didn't get a rest. She lost to Jennifer Santrock, the eighth-ranked singles player in the nation, 6-0, 6-1, while deLone fell to Claire Evert, 6-4, 6-2, at the number-two slot.

But Henikoff, Farrell, Mulvehal and Jennifer Minkus all pulled out big victories for the Crimson.