Harvard Struggles At ITA Tournament

At the Wilson/Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) East Women’s Regional Championships this weekend, the Harvard women’s tennis team had trouble finding its rhythm.

“Overall, I don’t think they are playing their best tennis,” Harvard coach Traci Green said. “But I see a lot of improvement.”

The tournament, hosted by Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va., is a qualifier for the ITA National Intercollegiate Championships at Ohio State. The draw, which includes four Harvard women, features all the top players in the East Region.

The singles finalists and the doubles champions in the tournament will earn spots in the national tournament held in early November.

Taking the court on Friday in an attempt to qualify for the singles main draw, freshman Samantha Rosekrans was ousted, 6-3, 7-6(5), in the first round by Dina Senkina of Temple.

After her loss, Rosekrans teamed up with junior Catriona Stewart on Saturday in the doubles main draw.

The two lost their first match, 8-2, to Sarah Lederhandler and Jessie Rhee of Yale.

Captain Stephanie Schnitter and freshman Agnes Sibilski also paired up in the doubles main draw. The duo lost, 8-3, to Cornelia Carapcea and Pascaline Cette of Maryland-Baltimore County in the first round.

“The doubles got outplayed this weekend,” Green said. “They played hard, but they didn’t execute.”

In the first two days of competition, the Crimson finished with a combined record of 0-3. Yesterday, however, proved to be a better day, as both Schnitter and Sibilski won their opening matches in the singles main draw.

“It was a pretty good day at the office,” Green said.

Schnitter, the No. 22 seed, defeated Mary Wilson of Quinnipiac, 6-1, 7-6(2). The senior kept her poise and played solid all the way through the match.

In her second match of the day, Schnitter lost in straight sets, 7-5, 6-3, to the fifth-seeded Katarina Zoricic of William and Mary.

Sibilski, the No. 32 seed, took down Ivana Tomaic of Radford College, 6-2, 6-3, in her first match of the day. The freshman came out fast in the first set and never looked back.

In the next match, however, Sibilski fell, 6-3, 6-1, to No. 4 seed Ragini Acharya, also from William and Mary.

“I actually know her from before...She has a really big game—big serve, big forehand,” Sibilski said. “I had a pretty tough week, though—I had a midterm—so I didn’t have much time to get ready. I did a lot better than I thought I would, given that I didn’t have much time to practice.”

Although a young Harvard team may be struggling to adjust early in the season, Schnitter and Sibilski have been bright spots for the squad. Both players won two out of three singles matches at the United States Tennis Association’s National Tennis Center Invitational two weeks ago.

Schnitter and Sibiliski will look to lead Harvard again in two weeks, when the team hosts the Harvard Invitational from Nov. 2-4.