Netwomen Set to Serve to the West's Best

It's the East versus the West.

The Harvard women's tennis team, the best team in the East, will travel to California over spring break to take on some of the topranked teams in the country.

"We can't expect to win all of the matches, but we're hoping to do as well as possible," Kathy Mulvehal said.

Captains: Kristin Bland and Cyndy Austrian

1987 Record: 14-7 overall, 7-0 Ivies

Current Record: 1-0

Home Matches: Beren Tennis Center

After completing its best fall season ever with a 5-1 record and winning the ITCA Eastern Regional Tournament, the Crimson (now ranked 24th nationally) will be looking to capture its fifth straight undisputed Ivy title and make its fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.

"I think we're in good position to play for the Ivy and Eastern titles," Harvard Coach Ed Krass said. "The team had a very good fall season and unified earlier than last year."

"We did pretty well in the fall," Christina Dragomirescu said. "We hope to continue where we left off in the fall."

Despite losing four-time All-Ivy players Kathy Vigna and Robin Boss, the Crimson (winner of 36 out of its last 37 Ivy games) came through with a strong fall season.

Harvard's first-place finish in the ITCA Easterns qualified it for the USTA/ITCA National Indoor Tournament in Wisconsin earlier this month. It was the first apperance for the Crimson in the tournament.

The netwomen defeated North-western and Wisconsin, but fell to Miami and Georgia. The Hurricanes and Bulldogs are ranked sixth and 10th, respectively.

Harvard's top three doubles teams of Co-Captain Kristin Bland-Jamie Henikoff, Amy deLone-Dragomirescu, and Co-Captain Cyndy Austrian-Mulvehal, had a combined record of 35-9 in the fall.

Bland and Henikoff--the number-one doubles team--finished the fall season with a 13-5 record. The doubles duo qualifed for the National Indoor Tournament earlier last month, and also placed first at the ITCA Eastern Regional Rolex Doubles Tournament at the University of Minnesota.

Austrian and Mulvehal combined to win the number-three flight at Syracuse and the number-two flight at the Harvard Invitational. The duo posted a 13-1 record.

"The main thing we have to do is stick together as a team," Mulvehal said. "We have to keep the depth of our team strong."

"That's another part of our strength," Mulvehal added. "We feel really confident that we can win all three double matches."

Bland played third singles in the fall, but has played in the number-one spot since late fall.

Freshman Henikoff (who went 9-8 in the fall) starts the spring at the number-two position after holding down the number-one position for most of the fall.

Henikoff posted a big victory over William and Mary's number-one player in three sets to clinch the victory for Harvard at the Eastern Indoor Tournament.

Jacki Farrell (number two in the fall), deLone, Mulvehal and Austrian will jockey for the number-three through six spots. Mulvehal posted a 12-3 record in the fall. Mulvehal won the number-three singles flight at the Harvard Invitational by defeating William and Mary's number-five player. Last year, Mulvehal went undefeated in Ivy play, finishing the season with a 6-0 singles mark for the second straight year.

DeLone had a 2-1 singles record during the fall, but the freshman has gradually moved up the ladder. Farrell had a big win over Yale's number-two player, Molly Quest, at the Eastern Indoor Championships.

Austrian defeated Richmond's number-one singles player at the ITCA Rolex Regional Championship at Penn. Martha Berkman, Mimi Kaufman and Nicole Rival add to an already deep team.

During Harvard's last four NCAA apperances, it has had to face the number-one seed in the first round of the tournament. But this year, the netwomen are hoping to receive a better seed.

Besides its strong doubles teams, the Crimson has a big asset in its depth. The players are almost interchangeable from one through six in singles play.

"We have more depth than we've ever had in the past," Austrian said. "We can win down low against the top teams in the country. We can beat anybody with our depth.

Harvard's two toughest opponents in the Ivy League should be Yale and Princeton. The Crimson defeated the Elis and the Tigers by 8-1 scores in the ITCA tournament. 1988 WOMEN'S TENNIS SCHEDULE

March Sat. 26  at Cal. State Fullerton Sun. 27  Pacific (at Pepperdine) Mon. 28  U. of San Diego Tue. 29  at Pepperdine Thu. 31  at UCLA

April Fri. 1  at U.C. Santa Barbara Sat. 2  UNLV (at C.S.-Northridge) Fri. 8  COLUMBIA Sat. 9  PENNSYLVANIA Sat. 16  BOSTON COLLEGE Fri. 22  BROWN Sat. 23  YALE Wed. 27  DARTMOUTH Fri. 29  at Cornell Sat. 30  at Syracuse

May Wed. 4  PRINCETON