Women's Tennis Falls to BC, Syracuse

A number of gritty singles performances and comeback attempts were unable to carry the Harvard women’s tennis team to victory this weekend, as it dropped a pair of matches to tough opponents at the Murr Center.

After a hard-fought loss to Boston College (5-3, 0-2 ACC) on Saturday, the Crimson (4-7, 0-0 Ivy) was unable to rebound and fell to a high-flying Syracuse squad (8-1, 1-1 ACC) the following Sunday morning.

“We had some tough matches,” junior Erica Oosterhout said. “Even though the score said we lost 6-1, it was a lot closer than that. Everybody was fighting to the bitter end.”

SYRACUSE 6, HARVARD 1

Sophomore Natasha Gonzalez picked up the lone victory in singles as Harvard fell to 4-6 on the season on Sunday morning.

The Orange jumped ahead quickly, taking the first and second doubles by scores of 6-1. Senior Annika Ringblom and freshman Anna Li were unable to capture a point against the No. 19 ranked Syracuse doubles tandem of Gabriela Knutson and Miranda Ramirez.

The Crimson came back and put up a strong fight in the singles category. Gonzalez only needed two sets to take the fourth singles set 6-4, 7-6.

In first singles, Oosterhout showcased her talent in a strong performance against the No. 18 ranked singles player, Knutson. Oosterhout was able to force a tiebreaker game in the first set before falling 7-6. Knutson took control in the second set eventually taking the match 7-6, 6-1.

Ringblom would not go down without a fight in third singles. After losing the tiebreaker match and the first set 7-6, Ringblom rebounded with a second set win, 6-4. Syracuse freshman Sofya Golubovskaya proved too strong as Ringblom fell in the third set.

“I’m actually very proud of everyone,” Oosterhout said. “Tennis matches are so up and down all the time and even though a few of us lost the first set… we were all able to turn it around and I think it’s great.”

BOSTON COLLEGE 6, HARVARD 1

The score of 6-1 proved to be Harvard’s downfall again as it fell to the Eagles Friday afternoon. A late push by the Crimson showed the overall grit of the team.

“There’s a lot of fight and a lot of heart on all the courts,” Gonzalez said. “That will definitely help us moving forward…We have the heart. We just need to [continue to] train to get there.”

The heart of the team definitely showed in Friday’s match. Boston College jumped ahead with first and second doubles wins. Harvard’s doubles duo of junior Isabel Jasper and freshman Neha Gupta stagnated the Eagles’ doubles sweep attempt with a victory in third doubles.

The Crimson went on to drop third and fourth singles, but refused to go away. With the support of her teammates, Oosterhout completed a three-set comeback against BC senior Asiya Dair.

“A lot of that goes to the team’s support,” Oosterhout said, “We have a few injured players even though they really can’t be on the court with us they really support with the cheering and it gets us all pumped up.”

Oosterhout rode the encouragement well, taking the subsequent sets 6-3, 6-4, en route to a first singles victory.

Ringblom built her own comeback as well. After falling in the first set 6-1, Ringblom rebounded in the second set with a 7-5 victory. Eagles sophomore Kylie Wilcox stood strong, however, taking the final set 6-4.

In sixth singles, Jasper fell in the first set 6-3. She evened up the match with a 6-3 win in the second set before falling 6-3 in the third set.

“Getting that last ball and that last deuce point, that’s [always] a turning point,” said Oosterhout.

Despite a tough loss, Harvard remains positive looking forward to Ivy League play.

“I think this weekend was good overall,” Oosterhout said. “And I think if we keep improving on it we’ll do well in Ivies. I think we really just have to focus on our matches coming up, especially during Spring Break. I think if we keep improving we’ll be in a good place.”