Women's Tennis Splits in California

Harvard women’s tennis (7-6) traveled to California for spring break competition, hoping to emerge with a winning record on the season in back-to-back matches against No. 9 California (9-3) on Wednesday and St. Mary’s (8-5) on Thursday.

At first, the cross-country trip only brought a case of west coast blues for the Crimson, as the Golden Bears blanked Harvard. But the Crimson would go on to redeem itself in a thrilling 4-3 victory over the Gaels the following day.

CALIFORNIA 7, HARVARD 0

Cal handily swept Harvard, 7-0, on Wednesday at the Hellman Tennis Complex. The Golden Bears swept both singles and doubles in a strong showing. In the No. 1 matchup, sophomore Holly Cao and junior captain Samantha Rosekrans fell to Cal’s sixth-ranked duo of Mari Andersson and Jana Juricova 8-4. The Golden Bears secured the doubles point in the second match, with an 8-2 victory over the freshman pair of Kristin Norton and Hideko Tachibana. In the final doubles matchup, sophomore Caroline Davis and freshman Alexandra Lehman lost 8-4 to Stephany Chang and Annie Goransson.

Holding off Cal was a challenge from the get-go for Harvard, as the home team boasted some of the nation’s top-ranking players. Holding the No. 16 rank in the second singles spot with a 10-2 record, the Golden Bears’ Marina Cossou was no easy opponent for Tachibana, who dropped the match 6-3, 6-0.

Jana Juricova, who took the court against the Crimson’s No. 54 Holly Cao, is the No. 2 singles player in the country, possessing a 9-3 overall record in the first singles slot.

“I was really looking forward to see how I would fare against one of the top singles players in the country,” Cao said.

And the sophomore certainly held up her end of the bargain. Cao took the first set, 6-4, and battled in a second-set loss, 6-3, setting up a super tiebreaker. Juricova pulled away for a 10-4 win, but Cao proved that she belongs on the national stage.

“It was a tense match, and it was encouraging for me to see that I can match up with any player in the country,” Cao said. “Obviously, I was disappointed that I was unable to pull out the deciding tiebreak, but I think I played a good match overall.”

HARVARD 4, ST. MARY’S 3

Harvard’s matchup against St. Mary’s was far less decisive. The Crimson notched a close 4-3 win over the Gaels, drowning out memories of the previous day’s loss.

“We came out with a new mindset,” Rosekrans said. “A new day meant a clean slate. We knew it would be a huge deal if we won because they’re only a few spots behind us in the rankings. [The win] came at a crucial point in the season. It really boosted our morale.”

But early on Harvard quickly found itself trailing 3-0 in the match, with the No. 2 and No. 3 doubles pairs losing 8-2 and 8-4, respectively. The duo of Cao and Rosekrans picked up the sole doubles win for the Crimson in the No. 1 spot.

In addition to surrendering the doubles point, Harvard fell in the No. 2 singles position, 6-4, 6-2, and in the No. 5 position, 6-2, 6-1.

Norton’s resolute 6-3, 6-2 win at No. 3 singles gave the Crimson a reason to hope. With a victory from Cao as well, Harvard could only earn the overall win against St. Mary’s if both Rosekrans at No. 4 singles and Lehman at No. 6 prevailed.

As both players dropped their first sets to the Gaels, winning became a formidable challenge, but hardly one that Rosekrans and Lehman were incapable of conquering.

After losing the first set 6-1, Rosekrans came back to win, 6-2, in the second and went on to hold off her opponent, 7-6. Lehman also narrowly shut down the opposition, 2-6, 7-6, 6-4.

“With tensions high and nerves fraying, Sam and Alex remained tough and were able to pull out the final two points,” Cao said. “Both played steady, calm tennis and demonstrated amazing resolve and determination in closing out the match.”

After witnessing these strong performances, as well as the efforts of Cao, Norton, Tachibana, and freshman Sophie Chang—all of whom are ranked among the top 15 players in the Northeast—Harvard looks to repeat as Ivy League champions this spring season. The players acknowledge that this goal will not materialize without hard work.

“It’s extremely important that we consistently secure the doubles point,” Rosekrans said. “We haven’t mastered that this season, and it was one of our strengths in previous years. We start the Ivy season earlier than the other schools, so in that sense we should have an advantage. Last year, we were Ivy League co-champions [with Princeton]. This time around, we’re hoping to win the title outright.”