Women's Tennis Merry on St. Patty's Day, Wins 4-3 AGainst B.U.

Though they were wearing crimson instead of green, the luck of the Irish was with the members of the Harvard women's tennis team on St. Patrick's Day.

In an East Coast, non-league showdown against Boston University, the Crimson won the first four points of the match to clinch victory and improve to .500 on the spring. Although B.U. won the final three singles matches on the afternoon, Harvard's 3-0 triumph in doubles and three opening straight set singles victories were enough to edge out the Terriers.

It is difficult to predict whether or not the outcomes of the last three singles matches would have turned out differently had Harvard (5-5) not already clinched the match, but Harvard's doubles point was clearly important in both gaining momentum and the 'W.'

Sophomores Bomy Hong and Lara Naqushbandi, who had never before played together, won their inaugural match, 8-4, at No. 3 doubles. Hong and Naqushbandi showed great compatibility and might be used together in future matches this season.

"Bomy and Lara particularly stood out today," Coach Gordan Graham said. "They played very well together, especially on their first time out with each other."

Though Harvard's first win at third doubles came rather easily, the hard fought struggles at the No. 1 and No. 2 spots set the tone for the rest of the match. Both matches were deadlocked at 8-8 before the Crimson emerged victorious with a pair of 9-8 victories in tiebreakers.

Junior Fleur Broughton and freshman Lola Ajilore clinched the doubles point for Harvard, squeezing out a 7-3 victory in the eight-game pro-set tiebreaker. Broughton and Ajilore were down 4-6 before storming back to tie the match at 7-7. The teams then split games to knot the match at 8-8. Ajilore and Broughton nailed big first serves throughout the tiebreaker to clinch the point.

Minutes later, senior Sanaz Ghazel and sophomore Sanja Bajin finished the Harvard sweep with a thrilling 7-5 tiebreaker win. Ghazel and Bajin led 7-4 in the match and seemed to be in control until Christina Causway and Carrie Rose captured the momentum, knotting the match at 7-7. Ghazel and Bajin regained their composure in time to win Harvard's second 9-8 doubles match.

"The doubles point was key," Graham said. "I think we would have pulled out another singles match if we needed to, but the doubles point could have easily gone the other way. Who knows what would have happened then?"

Harvard jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the match after Bajin dispatched of Causway 6-0, 6-2 at No. 1 singles. Bajin continued her excellent play of late, perhaps playing with added spirit after her gritty doubles win earlier.

The Crimson captured its third point at No. 6 singles. Junior Jennie Timoney put Harvard one-point away from victory with a straight set, 6-4, 6-3 win over Hannah Bartell.

Broughton won the clincher for the Crimson at third singles, playing determined tennis en route to an inspired 7-5, 6-4 victory.

"Fleur did a great job of finding a way to win even though she was not playing her best. That's really the sign of a great player, when you can win without your A-game," Graham said.

Yet, instead of packing up the bags and going home, B.U. salvaged the trip to the Murr Center tennis courts by winning the last three matches of the day. Though the three Terrier wins were not enough to win overall, they should give the squad confidence going into the week.

Elena de Mendoza played impressive tennis over Naqushbandi, winning 6-4, 6-3 at No. 4 singles.

Ajilore, who dominated her first set, could not hold on for the win, losing 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 at the five spot. Ghazal was last to finish, only beginning her third set when all the other matches had concluded. With everyone watching, Ghazal put on quite a show, battling to within two points of victory at 5-4, 30-love in the third set before eventually running out of gas, losing 7-5.

Graham gave the team a great gift for the hard-earned win--tickets to sunny Southern California over spring break. Harvard will play four teams on the trip, including No. 13 Pepperdine, before returning to dismal Massachusetts on April 13 for the Crimson's Ivy League home opener against Pennsylvania and Princeton.

The Crimson hopes that juniors Sara McGinty and Andrea Magyera can recover from injuries and return to the starting lineup in time for the commencement of the Ivy League season.

Despite the injuries, Graham feels that the team is coming together just at the right time.

"This is a much better team than last year's, even though most of the players of the same, just because everyone is playing much better tennis," Graham said. "We've found that many players on this team can step up and fill in well. We can still get better, but I'm encouraged and optimistic."