W. Tennis Tops Terps To Open NCAAs

It took an entire afternoon of grueling play, but the Harvard women’s tennis team (18-6) finally dispatched Maryland (11-12) in the first round of the NCAA tournament Friday at the Beren Tennis Center, ensuring that there would not be a early playoff letdown this season.

A year after being eliminated by underdog Ohio State, the No. 19 Crimson eked out a 4-0 victory over the No. 42 Terrapins in a match that was much closer than the final margin indicated. Freshman Celia Durkin’s 6-4, 6-4 win at third singles over Jennifer Dent provided the crucial fourth point, sealing the win for Harvard and sending it on to the second round to face Tennessee (15-8).

“We knew Maryland was a really good, solid team,” Crimson coach Gordon Graham said. “I knew it was going to be a tough match, and we hadn’t really been tested for a month and a half.”

After steamrolling through the Ivy League schedule, Harvard was tested right away in front of its home crowd, as the Maryland combo of Ramona But and Marianne Baker defeated the Crimson’s No. 1 doubles pair of Durkin and junior Melissa Anderson.

“The doubles [loss] was kind of a shocker,” Durkin said. “I think we have the ability to beat that team.”

The loss snapped a 15-match winning streak for Durkin and Anderson, and left the doubles point up for grabs.

“Our number-one doubles team, that’s only the second time they’ve lost all spring...that hardly ever happens to them,” Graham said. “But the other two teams came through huge...that number-two court—that was crunch time, and they came through.”

At third doubles, co-captain Susanna Lingman and junior Eva Wang quickly closed out an 8-1 win, leaving the doubles score tied at 1-1 pending the outcome of second doubles. Co-captain Courtney Bergman and sophomore Elsa O’Riain fell behind early, rallied to grab a 7-6 lead, then broke the Maryland serve to clinch an 8-6 victory and ensure the doubles point for Harvard.

“With these [windy] conditions, it’s tough, things go back and forth, you just need to focus on every point,” Bergman said. “We were confident...we weren’t really too worried, even though it came down to us at the end.”

Harvard quickly grabbed a 3-0 advantage on the strength of the back end of the singles rotation. Playing at fifth singles, Anderson closed out Veronika Subertova 6-1, 6-3. At sixth singles, Wang got the start over senior Alexis Martire, and chipped in with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Julia Graca.

The deciding point, however, was extremely difficult to nail down. Playing first singles, Bergman took a demanding first set from Ramona But 6-2, but then appeared to tire, dropping the second set 6-2 and falling behind in the third. At second doubles, Ivy Player of the Year Lingman had trouble with Marianne Baker, falling in a 7-6 tiebreak in the first set. Likewise, at fourth singles, Elsa O’Riain dropped her first set in a tiebreak to Neda Mihneva and was losing in the second.

“Everyone came out knowing it was going to be a tough match,” Bergman said. “This is NCAAs—every team is going to be competing hard regardless of what they’re ranked.”

With three of Harvard’s top four singles players all trailing their matches, the Crimson was in danger of being upset in the first round for the second year in a row. Durkin, however, stepped up to send Harvard into the next round. With the first set locked at four, Durkin broke Dent’s serve and then held her own serve to close out a tight 6-4 win. After Dent went ahead in the second set, 4-3, Durkin reeled off wins in three straight games, breaking Dent’s serve twice in the process, to come from behind for the 6-4, 6-4 victory.

“It was good to be able to pull it together for singles,” Durkin said. “Mental focus comes in and out, and when I’m down I usually focus a lot harder, and focus on moving my feet a lot more. That usually helps my shots go in.”

Durkin had not lost a doubles match since before the Ivy season, but she was able to keep her focus playing in her first NCAA tournament and bear down when the team needed the deciding fourth point.

“That shows a lot of mental resiliency,” Graham said, “to come back and turn it around after [the doubles loss].”

—Staff writer Caleb W. Peiffer can be reached at cpeiffer@fas.harvard.edu.