W. Tennis Edges No. 16 Texas A&M

The No. 34 Harvard tennis team felt severely underrated entering the second half of its season last week. A loss to the nation’s top team did not discourage its confidence.

After falling valiantly to No. 1 Stanford in the opening round of the USTA/ITA National Team Indoor Championships on Thursday morning, the Crimson did not think that result should exclude it from the top-ten consideration.

“We’re definitely a talented team,” junior Eva Wang said. “We’re a deep team and I definitely think we have the potential to be just as good as [Stanford].”

Harvard (3-1) took several steps in that direction in the consolation bracket on Friday and Saturday, knocking off No. 48 Wisconsin and No. 16 Texas A&M in succession to end its tournament appearance on an upward note.

HARVARD 4, TEXAS A&M 3

In order to exit the A.C. Nielsen Tennis Center with its record above .500, the Crimson had to overcome a forceful Aggies squad in spite of injury problems.

Harvard swept doubles play for the second consecutive afternoon to capture the first point. The combo of senior captain Courtney Bergman and sophomore Elsa O’Riain won first, beating the country’s No. 28 team, 8-4. Wang and sophomore Preethi Mukundan secured the 1-0 lead with a 8-5 conquest, before junior Melissa Anderson and freshman Celia Durkin poured on the gravy with a 8-5 win at No. 2.

The true test came in singles, where the Crimson would have to do without usual No. 1 Bergman and had to slot dinged-up co-captain Susanna Lingman at No. 2 after she missed Friday’s match.

Durkin, playing out of position at No. 3, dropped a tight two-setter to tie the match. Even in losing, though, the young freshman showed signs of brilliance.

“Celia played awesome,” Bergman said. “We all did a great job stepping up.”

O’Riain continued to excel at the top of the ladder, defeating No. 47 Helga Vieira in two straight. Alexis Martire gave Harvard a 3-1 lead in a come-from-behind three-set win.

A&M stayed alive by beating No. 98 Mukundan at the No. 4 slot, but Anderson soon capped off the win with a 6-1, 6-1 demolition of her opponent at No. 6.

This team depth will prove crucial to its success as the season continues and the underclassmen improve.

“We had really good incoming freshman,” Bergman said. “And therefore we can win easily at 4-5-6.”

HARVARD 6, WISCONSIN 1

The Crimson bounced back from its disappointing defeat to the Cardinal in the main bracket with a dominating performance at the expense of the Badgers. Coming out onto the courts with something to prove, Harvard got off to a ferocious start and nearly posted a shutout against a Wisconsin squad that was overwhelmed despite playing on its home court in Madison.

“We walked away from [Stanford] realizing how good we are,” Bergman said. “We wanted to use it as a positive thing.”

A brisk round of doubles play provided a good omen for the remainder of the match, with the Crimson sweeping the three encounters. The teams of Durkin and Anderson and Wang and Mukundan clinched the point with wins at the No. 2 and 3 slots, 8-2 and 8-1 respectively.

The most impressive bit of pairs play was at the top of the ladder, with the new No. 1 team of Bergman and O’Riain rallying to knock off national No. 27 Lindsay Martin and Kate McGaffigan, 8-4.

“We have three super solid teams,” Bergman said. “It’s important to be solid in all three positions and we are.”

When singles began, the rout was on. Durkin won her match at No. 2 handily—6-4, 6-1—and Anderson triumphed over her foe, 6-2, 6-1. O’Raian topped a higher-ranked opponent in prolonged fashion, besting No. 52 McGaffigan 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-0.

With things decided, the other half of the singles rotation got in its work. Mukundan and Martire both prevailed in straight sets, but Wang lost a second-set tiebreaker in a three-set loss at No. 4 that finally got Wisconsin on the board.

—Staff writer Jonathan Lehman can be reached at jlehman@fas.harvard.edu.