Netwomen Net First in ECAC

Harvard's highly-ranked net-women once again strutted their stuff this weekend, placing first in the ECAC Tennis Tournament at Princeton.

The netwomen accumulated 121 points, in outdistancing the second-place host Tigers, who had 112 points. William & Mary took a distant third with 57 points.

"We were overwhelming favorites," Harvard Coach Don Usher said, "and we managed to sneak out with it."

The Crimson performance was highlighted by its singles play, as Harvard placed first or second in in all three divisions.

Erika Smith's A-flight second-place finish and Kathy Vigna's victory in the C-flight assured a Crimson triumph.

Smith, who was unseeded, topped the first, fifth and seventh seeds on her way to the finals where she lost in two sets to Emily Shutte of Princeton, 7--6, 6--1.

Vigna outswung Aditi Viswanathan, also of Princeton, to claim the C-flight title.

Kristen Bland contributed to the win by outplaying Ingrid Hetz of James Madison, 4--6, 6--3, 6--2, capturing the B-flight victory.

"Kristen Bland's undefeated for us," Usher said. "We call her, 'The Time Bomb.' You never know when she's gonna play great or when she's gonna explode."

If the Crimson's success in the singles was not enough, the doubles meant double trouble for the other squads in the tournament.

"By the end of the season, we may have the best three doubles team in the East--all on the same team," Esher said.

Smith and Vigna had very little trouble with Heather Clark and Mimi Roche of William & Mary, beating them in straight sets, 6--3, 6--4.

B-flight tandem Martha Beckman and Robin Boss also played well, blanking Charlotte Haberstraw and Tara Shannon in straight sets.

THE NOTEBOOK: Kathy Vigna has now won 110 matches for the Crimson in just two years and two tournaments. . . The netwomen host the Harvard Invitational Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Third-ranked Texas and fifth-ranked Florida are among the teams that will compete.