Women's Tennis Chews Up Big Red

The Harvard women's tennis team took control of the Ivy League race by Pounding Cornell to a Big Red pulp Saturday afternoon at Palmer Dixon Tennis Courts a 6-1 win.

The Crimson (11-7 overall, 4-0 Ivy)--fresh off its 6-1 drubbing of Princeton on Friday--could do little wrong against the Big Red in both the singles and doubles matches, losing just one en-route to the lopsided victory. Cornell  1 Harvard  6

Cornell, which as come into the weekend 4-0 in Ivy League play, had its Ivy title hopes dashed following, consecutive losses to Dartmouth and Harvard.

"For Cornell this was really the focal point of their season," Junior co-captain Kelly Granat said. "They've been gearing their season towards this match."

"This was basically like playing for the Ivy championship," sophomore Gina Majmudar said. "We expected it to be tough, but we were all really ready for them."

Ready indeed.

The netwomen came out in a fury in doubles action and easily took the doubles point with wins at first and second doubles.

In the first doubles match, Granat and junior co-captain Kate Roiter put away their opponents, 8-3.

"We were very aggressive," Roiter said. "We had to be in order to win."

At second Mylin Torres--a duo that's unbeaten in league play--teamed up to rout their opponents, 8-2.

"I started out a little slowly," Majmudar said. "But Mylin carried us through the match."

Although Cornell managed a 9-8 win at third doubles, the Crimson doubles play has certainly picked up the pace lately and could be a critical factor in its upcoming matches.

In the singles action, Harvard used a combination of youth and experience to clinch the victory.

The youth chipped in at second an fourth singles as Torres and freshman Gabriela Hricko defeated their respective opponents Torres toppled Cornell's Mo Bertsch, 6-3, 6-3 and Hricko rode her blistering serve to a 6-0, 6-2 thrashing of the Big Red's Liz Byrne.

Veterans Roiter and Granat also posted wins to help the Crimson cause. Granat masterfully wore down her opponent and came away with a sound 6-2, 6-0 win at fifth singles.

"I was very happy with they way I played," Grant said. "I broke her game down by following a lot of different patterns."

At third singles, Roiter battled a sore wrist and a persistent challenge from Cornell's Jigisha Pathakji, but she won her three-set match, 7-5, 1-6, 6-1.

"In the middle of the first set my wrist started hurting and that affected me," Roiter said. "In the third set, I got more aggressive and waited for my opportunities."

Sophomore Maryla Madura added the sixth team point with a 6-4, 6-1 win at sixth singles.

Cornell's only team point came at first singles where the Big Red's Olga Itskhoki continued her domination of Ivy opponents with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Majmudar. Itskhoki--who has a perfect 13-0 career Ivy record--dictated the points from the baseline and prevented Majmudar from getting into a consistent rhythm.

The two Crimson victories over the weekend--over defending Ivy champion Princeton and a strong Big Red Squad--should give Harvard a healthy head of steam going into the season's home stretch.

Beginning Friday, the netwomen will play five matches in nine days--including three Ivy League matches and two matches against Syracuse and William and Mary--the two teams ahead of Harvard in the East region.

With so many key matches looming on the horizon, maintaining team focus is vital.

"We're being very conscious about looking past any team." Granat said. "The upper classmen are very cognizant of that, and we've instilled that in the freshmen."