W. Tennis Has Disappointing Road Trip to West Coast

Spring break in Malibu proved anything but pleasure-filled or relaxing for the No. 26 Harvard women’s tennis team.

The squad capped a crushing west coast swing with a 4-3 loss to No. 44 Pepperdine, its third consecutive defeat to a top-50 team, and fourth straight overall.

Without junior co-captain Susanna Lingman and classmate Ashley Hyotte in the lineup, the Crimson (7-9) was forced to juggle its doubles lineup for the second time in three contests, meeting mixed results.

Junior Alexis Martire and sophomore Eva Wang—who partnered last year but had seen limited action thus far this year due to a twisted ankle suffered by Martire earlier this season—recaptured their form from a season ago, defeating Natalie Braverman and Merve Asimgil 8-6 at No. 2 to move Harvard within one of the doubles point.

But the Waves (9-7) roared back, routing two newly-formed Crimson pairs—co-captain Courtney Bergman and sophomore Melissa Anderson and freshmen Cindy Chu and Preethi Mukundan—at Nos. 1 and 3, respectively.

Bergman, who teams with Lingman as the No. 19 doubles tandem in the country, had played with Mukundan in the two other contests over break, losing both, while Anderson had played alongside regular partner Hyotte.

The story differed little on the singles end, as Harvard captured three straight points, but could not close out the match with a fourth.

ARIZONA STATE 6, HARVARD 1

The No. 50 Sun Devils dominated the Crimson lineup from top to bottom, taking two of the doubles matches to earn the opening point before winning the top five singles matches, four in straight sets on March 30.

Wang and Martire rebounded from a crushing 8-1 defeat the day before with an 8-6 victory at the No. 2 doubles spot. Prior to their play over spring break, the two had shared the court only once since Feb. 14.

Mukundan earned Harvard’s only point with her victory over Kady Pooler at No. 6, 7-6 (8), 6-3.

Anderson went to a deciding third super-set—an abbreviated tie-breaker—which she ultimately lost, though the final outcome had already been determined.

FRESNO STATE 6, HARVARD 1

In another frustrating game of one step forward, two steps back, the Crimson let victory slip away to the No. 13 Bulldogs, in part due to yet another disappointing performance from its doubles play.

Fresno State swept first and second doubles to capture the opening point before Anderson and Hyotte sealed their match at No. 3, but Harvard roared straight into individual play capturing the first set in each of the six singles matches.

Mukundan held on at No. 6, 6-2, 6-0 against Courtney Jantz, but her teammates were not as fortunate, as all five lost in three sets.

—Staff writer Timothy J. McGinn ca be reached at mcginn@fas.harvard.edu.