No. 66 Harvard Falls to No. 36 Yale, Ekes Out Win at Brown

With its chance at the Ivy title on the line, the No. 66 Harvard women’s tennis team (9-8, 4-2 Ivy) kept pace this weekend in the race for the championship—first starting off slowly but sprinting to success in the end.

HARVARD 4, BROWN 3

When the women took the court yesterday to face No. 45 Brown (15-8, 4-2), the Crimson was in a must-win situation—a victory in Providence would rejuvenate Harvard’s championship hopes, and a loss would have dashed them completely.

But when the stakes were high, the team’s sharp play was able to pull out a 4-3 victory over the Bears, keeping the hungry Crimson in contention for the Ancient Eight crown.

In the doubles matches, Harvard spared no time to start scoring, claiming the point with strong showings in the No. 1 and No. 3 matches.

The duo of freshman Natalie Blosser and sophomore Alexandra Lehman dismantled its opponents, 8-6, at the No. 3 spot, and sophomores Hideko Tachibana and Kristin Norton, the Crimson’s top twosome, were able to pull out a 9-8 nail-biter against a strong Brown pair.

“Overall, I think the whole match was very indicative of the team’s fight,” Harvard coach Traci Green said. “They all practiced hard all week and played to their potential to grab that point.”

In the No. 6 match, freshman Hannah Morrill looked to set the tone, making quick work of her opponent. Morrill toppled Brown junior Julie Flanzer in two sets, 6-4, 6-2.

But the Bears would bounce back, sweeping the Crimson in the next three matches and taking both the lead and the momentum from the visitors.

Both Blosser and junior Samantha Gridley suffered tough losses, the former falling, 6-2, 6-2, in her No. 4 match. The latter lost in the first set, 6-2, and then was shut out in the second to lose the No. 5 point.

In the No. 3 match, Norton got off to a great start against Brown junior Cassandra Herzberg, winning the first set, 7-5.

In the second, Herzberg responded, forcing a third set with a 6-4 finish, and posting a 6-3 score to take the match for the Bears.

The day’s victor was to be decided in the top two matchups.

Junior co-captain Holly Cao made up for her earlier loss in doubles with a 6-2, 6-2, win on the No. 1 court. Then, exchanging 6-1 sets to force a third set at the No. 2 spot, Tachibana proved just enough to outdo her opposition, squeaking out a 6-4 win over senior Bianca Aboukabare to clinch the victory for her team.

YALE 6, HARVARD 1

Hosting No. 33 Yale (20-4, 5-1) on Friday, the Harvard squad faced an old rival—its highest-ranked opponent of the season—in a tough battle where not enough seemed to work in the home squad’s favor.

Playing for the doubles point, the Crimson started off successfully in the No. 1 match, where Tachibana and Norton breezed past their opposition, 8-2.

But success was much harder to find for the other pairs. Harvard fell at the No. 2 and No. 3 spots, 8-6 and 8-4, respectively, conceding the point to the visiting Bulldogs.

“When it came to the crucial moments I think they stepped up to the plate,” Cao said. “The games were close, but they capitalized on the big moments.”

The singles matches told a similar story.

Despite Cao’s impressive performance in the top match, good enough for a pair of 6-3 finishes and the Crimson’s sole singles point, the rest of the roster couldn’t match up to their Yale counterparts.

Gridley was overwhelmed by a score of 6-4, 6-4, at the No. 6 spot, and Norton was dismantled by her opponent on the No. 3 court, 6-2, 6-0.

Harvard managed to fight a little closer in the day’s other matchups, coming up short by narrow margins.

After losing the first set, 6-3, Morrill came back to win the second by a score of 6-1 to force a third set in the No. 5 match. The third proved just too much though, and she fell, 6-2, to drop the point for the team.

Blosser experienced a similar fate at No. 4, down in the first, 6-3, and then rebounding to win, 6-4, in the second. But, like for Morrill, the third set seemed one too many for Blosser, and a 10-4 loss to junior Stephanie Kent added to the Crimson’s deficit.

The No. 2 matchup ultimately sealed the deal for the day, and Tachibana fell, 6-2, 7-6, with Harvard losing overall to the Bulldogs, 6-1.

“I felt like we left all we had on the court in those close doubles matches,” Green said. “But in the singles, Yale just outplayed us.”