Women's Tennis Opens Ivy Play with Pair of Victories

In its opening weekend of Ivy League play, the Harvard women’s tennis team came out strong, defeating Cornell, 6-1, on Friday before mustering out a win over Columbia, 4-3, on Saturday at Beren Tennis Center.

Every Crimson player notched at least one victory over the two days, while senior Samantha Gridley, junior Camille Jania, and sophomore Hannah Morrill went 2-0 in singles play.

In doubles, the tandem of junior co-captain Hideko Tachibana and freshman Kelly Whelan also went 2-0 for the weekend in two close matches. Both contests went into extra games, but Tachibana and Whelan came out on top both times, 9-8 (5) against the Big Red, and 8-7 (5) against the Lions.

Harvard’s other doubles teams were not as consistent. The Crimson earned the doubles point only in its bout against Cornell when the duo of Gridley and Jania also got the win, defeating Gabby Sullivan and Rosemary Li on the No. 3 court.

“Having had a really tough match under our belts after this weekend and knowing we can come up with key shots in pressure situations will give us a lot of confidence going into next weekend,” Gridley said.

HARVARD 4, COLUMBIA 3

Coming off of a win in its first Ivy League match against Cornell the day before, the Crimson carried its momentum into its battle against the Lions, winning a close matchup.

Harvard started off in the hole after losing the doubles point in a trio of tight matchups.

Tachibana and Whelan got a win for the Crimson, defeating Bianca Sanon and Tiana Takenaga of Columbia in a tiebreaker at the No. 1 spot, 8-7 (5). But Morrill and junior co-captain Kristin Norton lost a close battle, 8-6, on the No. 2 court, while Gridley and Jania dropped their contest at the No. 3 position by the same score.

But the Crimson took hold of the singles matches.

At the No. 3 spot, Jania handled Iani Alecsiu, 6-1, 6-2, while Gridley took down Katarina Kovacevic on the No. 5 court, 6-2, 6-3.

Morrill also swept her foe in a 6-0, 6-4 match.

After just three decisions, the Crimson was within one point of the team victory.

But with Harvard up 3-1, the Lions’ Sanon beat Norton at the No. 2 position, 6-3, 6-3 to bring Columbia within one.

The final two matches took all three sets to find a winner.

Playing on the No. 1 court, Tachibana took the first, 7-5, while her opponent Nicole Bartnik, came back to win the second, 6-1. The final frame went into a tiebreaker with Bartnik finishing on top, 6-5 (5).

The deciding match came soon after Tachibana’s ended. On the No. 4 court, Blosser dropped her first set against the Lions’ Crystal Leung, 3-6, but rallied back to take the next two, 6-4, 6-3, giving the Crimson the match.

“Everybody played under pressure really well—especially Hideko and Natalie,” Gridley said. “Hideko staying on the court for Natalie’s whole match allowed Natalie to not feel a ton of pressure when the match came down to the two of them.”

HARVARD 6, CORNELL 1

Ivy play began on Friday when the Crimson outmatched the Big Red, bringing Harvard to 16-0 all-time against Cornell at home.

Unlike on Saturday, the Crimson began the afternoon by earning the doubles point.

Gridley and Jania teamed together to win, 8-6, at the No. 3 spot, while Norton and Morrill lost, 8-3, at the No. 2 position. Tachibana and Whelan took the tiebreaker in their match, 9-8 (5), on the No. 1 court to put Harvard ahead, 1-0, going into singles play.

The Crimson won five of the six singles matches, all in two sets.

Tachibana outplayed Sarah O’Neil at the No. 1 spot, 6-1, 6-0, while Norton also handled her foe, 6-1, 6-3, on the adjacent court.

At the No. 3 position, Jania handily won her first set, 6-1, but had to battle for the victory in the second, 7-6 (6).

Gridley and Morrill’s wins were also close at the No. 5 and No. 6 spots, respectively.

In extra games and a tiebreaker, Gridley beat Lauren Frazier, 7-6 (6), 7-5, and Morrill defeated Courtney Malinchak, 7-5, 7-5.

The Big Red’s only victory of the day came on the No. 4 court, when Sullivan beat Blosser, 6-1, 6-2.

—Staff writer Taryn I. Kurcz can be reached at tkurcz13@college.harvard.edu.