W. Tennis Gets Sun But Not Fun on Southern Roadtrip

The Harvard women's tennis team escaped the cold and drizzle of New England this past holiday weekend for trysts with two of the southwestern region's big enchiladas, Arizona State and UNLV.

As it turned out, the weekend provided sun, but not so much fun. The Crimson (1-3) dropped both its matches, following up a 5-2 loss to the Runnin' Rebels on Sunday with a 7-0 shutout at the hands of the No. 10 Sun Devils on Monday.

It was not exactly how the west was won. But going up against such a high level of competition may yet prove beneficial to Harvard as it prepares to kick its spring season into full gear.

"It was our first real outdoor competition," sophomore Lara Naqushbandi said. "Both teams were pretty strong. We didn't win but it was pretty good outside experience."

Harvard, who entered the weekend ranked No. 70 in the country, was once again not at full health. Sophomore Sanja Bajin, the Crimson's No. 1 singles player and all-Ivy selection one year ago, did not compete individually against either ASU or UNLV because of injury.

Bajin did decide to team with senior Sanaz Ghazal in a doubles heat against UNLV on Sunday. The duo fell, however, to the team of No. 76 Paulina Janus and No. 79 Agnieszka Abram by an 8-4 margin.

The Crimson, incidentally, did not capture a single doubles match all weekend.

Janus and Abram also made quick work of Harvard in singles play at the No. 1 and 2 spots, respectively. With Bajin sidelined, Ghazal played at No. 1 singles for Harvard, but she was no match for Janus, who prevailed 6-3, 6-1. Junior Fleur Broughton could not fare any better for Harvard, falling 6-0, 6-2 in the second singles spot.

Two bright spots did emerge for Harvard later in singles play, as Naqushbandi, competing in the third position, outlasted UNLV's Marianne Bakken in three sets (6-4, 4-6, 6-1). Junior Sarah McGinty did the same in the No. 5 slot, winning 6-3, 2-6, 6-2.

"I was very pleased with my performance," Naqushbandi said. "I have been training very hard lately. Sarah won as well, and we were both pretty pleased."

Aside from those two matches, however, no Crimson player was able to claim a single set. Consequently, the No. 69 Rebels (3-5) got to celebrate their first win over a ranked team this season.

Against the Sun Devils (6-1) on Monday, the Crimson collided headfirst with one of the nation's best programs. ASU has shut out its opponents 7-0 in five of its six wins so far this year, and has not dropped a set in singles play in its last three meetings.

In the No. 1 singles match, Sun Devil Adria Engel, ranked No. 45 nationally, just edged Ghazal 7-5 in the first set. But Ghazal succumbed 6-0 in the second set as Engel improved to 5-2 individually.

The rest of ASU's singles slate cruised to victory over its Harvard counterparts. The next closest match was between Harvard junior Jennie Timmony and ASU's Cindy Sureephong. Timmony played well, but fell 6-4, 6-4.

The victory was the fourth in a row for the surging Sun Devils, who had also blanked UNLV 7-0 two days before facing Harvard.

As for now, the Crimson will strive to prove that the events of the past weekend were not lost on them, even if the scoreboard didn't necessarily indicate a memorable showing. Harvard will be able to make good on the lessons it learned out west right away, as it competes at home against Temple and Boston College this coming weekend.

"We had chances against UNLV in a couple of the matches [we lost]," Naqushbandi said. "It's something we will learn from."