W. Tennis Opens Ivy Play With Convincing Wins

The Harvard women's tennis team made its Ivy League debut last weekend and emerged undefeated in its conference. Neither the wind nor the improved play of Cornell and Columbia could knock the Crimson (8-9, 2-0 Ivy) off its game, but both made the playing environment more difficult than the actual scores indicate.

Harvard topped Cornell 7-2 on Saturday, and posted a 9-0 shutout over Columbia the previous afternoon, improving the Crimson's overall record to 8-9.

Facing a young Cornell team of five freshman and one sophomore, Harvard had to exert more effort than it anticipated. Despite the surprising strong effort of the Big Red, the Crimson still managed to control the match.

Freshman Lara Naqushbandi, playing No. 5 singles, kicked off the match with an easy win over Cornell's Becky Sendrow. Naqushbandi had to expend little effort in downing her opponent, blanking Sendrow in the first set, and holding her at bay 6-3 in the second.

Suzanne Wright equalized the score for the Big Red only minutes later, upsetting the Crimson's top singles player, freshman Sanja Bajin. Bajin suffered an uncharacteristic loss, falling to Wright in two sets, 6-3 and 6-1.

Cornell attempted to steal the lead from Harvard during the No. 3 singles match, but freshman Jennie Timoney hung on to take the win in straight sets over Jodie Hurley. Struggling through the first set, Timoney pulled out a 7-5 victory and continued that trend with a decisive 6-1 score in the final set for the win.

The Big Red continued to battle back, knotting the score at two after No. 4 sophomore Fleur Broughton unsuccessfully fought both Daniela Del Prete and the wind, falling to Del Prete, 7-5 and 6-3 in straight sets.

Sophomore Sarah McGinty and junior Sanaz Ghazal combined in No. 6 and No. 2 doubles, respectively, to give the Crimson a decisive two-point lead heading in to doubles play. Despite the late surge of Piper Lucas in the second set, McGinty defeated her, 6-4, 7-6.

Ghazal rounded out the singles action in the second seeded slot in yet another key match-up. Facing Ngozi Amobi, Ghazal dropped the first set, 6-4, but dominated the second, 6-2. Ghazal needed a tiebreaker to finish Amobi, 7-2, in the final set.

Retreating from the gale-like winds, Harvard completed the doubles matches inside the Murr Center.

Bajin avenged her singles loss, as she and Ghazal teamed up for the top doubles slot. The tandem secured the Crimson's overall victory with an exciting 8-3 win over Wright and Alex Del Prete.

No. 2 and No. 3 doubles also brought home the gold for the Crimson, as both pairs defeated their opponents, 8-6. Captain Vedica Jain and sophomore Andrea Magyera downed Hurley and Del Prete, while Broughton and McGinty retired Sendrow and Nicole Chiu.

"Cornell made us fight, but we were all about business [Saturday]," Ghazal said. "We were focused on finding a way to win under the conditions. We definitely made a statement, especially in the doubles."

The previous afternoon was even more spectacular for Harvard, as it posted a 9-0 shutout over Columbia to secure its first Ivy League win and to christen the recently finished Robert M. Berens Center.

Broughton, in the fifth-seeded spot, posted the first win on the Berens Court, effortlessly downing the Lions' Shelly Mittal, 6-4, 6-2 in straight sets.

Only minutes later, McGinty cruised through No. 4 singles and pushed the lead to two, with another straight-set victory over Columbia's Joyce Chang.

Again starting in the top slot was Bajin, who cruised to the third straight-set sweep of the day, posting a pair of 6-4 and 6-2 victories over Tina Romic.

Ghazal was the first to falter slightly, earning the win after three tough sets in No. 3 singles. Ghazal topped Andrea Sanders 6-3 in the first set, but dropped the middle set 1-6. Ghazal made quick work of Sanders in the final match, defeating her 6-1 for the victory.

Naqushbandi faced a similar trial during her three-set match with Leena Krishnaswamy. Naqushbandi notched the first point with a 6-2 win, but lost a close battle, 6-7 to push for the tiebreaker, which she won, 6-2 to take the match.

Jain finished up the singles action for the Crimson, pulling out a victory over Columbia's Laila Shetty. Jain fell behind, 5-7 in the first set, but battled back to rout Shetty, 6-2 in the second stanza. Shetty made Jain earn her win, falling to Jain, 7-5 in the final set.

Despite having already secured the win, Harvard continued to dominate the doubles matches.

Ghazal and Bajin faced off against Chang and Ilene Weintraub in No. 1 singles and posted an easy 8-3 victory despite Chang and Weintraub's best efforts at unseating the premiere doubles team.

Broughton and McGinty followed suit in the No. 3 slot, making short work of their opponents Romic and Mittal, 8-4 in the second doubles match of the day.

Jain and Magyera rounded out the doubles play with a tougher 8-5 victory over Sanders and Shetty to complete the match.

"Under the conditions our team did really well and showed how focused and determined our team is," Ghazal said. "This match will totally build our confidence going in to this weekend."

With two Ivy League victories under its belt, the Crimson will hit the road next weekend to face off against league foes Princeton and Penn. Harvard will be looking to avenge its 5-3 loss against the Tigers last year.