Trinity Eliminates Netwomen ,5-1, in NCAA Tournament

The nation's 24th-ranked Harvard women's tennis team was eliminated from the NCAA tournament by Trinity (Tex.), 5-1, Wednesday at UCLA.

The Crimson was knocked off in the first round of the 20-team tournament. Last year, the netwomen were eliminated by top-seed and eventual champion Florida, 8-1.

Harvard qualified for its fifth straight NCAA appearance this year by capturing the Ivy League title and being ranked first in the East.

The setback ended a streak of 10 consecutive victories for the Crimson.

The teams did not play doubles because Trinity clinched the match with five victories in singles.

Harvard finished the season with a 20-8 overall record and won the Ivy League for the sixth straight season with a perfect 7-0 mark.

The Crimson's 20 wins is the most ever for the program. Seven of the Crimson's eight losses came at the hands of nationally-ranked teams.

"This gave us a good foundation for next season," Harvard Coach Ed Krass said. "The girls are disappointed that they weren't able to play up to their potential."

"It was a good experience for our younger players," Krass said. "We're proud about what we accomplished this year. It's been a great season overall."

Harvard's only winner was Harvard Co-Captain Kristin Bland, who defeated Jane Holdren, the nation's 52nd-ranked player, in straight sets.

In the first set, the junior sliced and diced her way to a 3-2 lead. Bland continued the rout by winning the next three games to win the set, 6-2.

The second set was a little tighter, with Holdren ralliying from a 2-1 deficit to take a 3-2 lead. But Bland fought back to win four of the next five games to give the Crimson its only victory.

"Kristin played a great match," Harvard's Christina Dragomirescu said. "She played her type of game. She ws in control the whole time."

In the number-six singles match, Harvard's Kathy Mulvehal and a long-time friend, Mary Gragberg, played each against each other for the first time.

Mulvehal played an excellent first set, capturing a 6-4 decision. But the heat would soon catch up with Mulvehal. The junior, exhausted from the heat by the matches' end, dropped the final two sets, 6-2, 6-2.

At number-two singles, freshman sensation Jamie Henikoff, playing the number 14th-ranked player in the country, fell in straight sets to Ann Hulbert.

Netwoman Jacki Farell, playing at number-three singles, dropped a 6-2, 6-2 decision to Katrina Crawford, while freshman Amy deLone fell in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2.

"Basically, we really want to win the match," Dragomirescu said, "but we couldn't pull it out. This has been a great year. We were really happy for Blando [Kristin Bland]. It says a lot that our number-one player won."

"We're looking forward to another great season next year," Dragomirescu added.

In the number-four singles match, Harvard Co-Captain Cyndy Austrian lost a close first set to Alison Fleming. Austrian started off fast, taking a 2-1 in the first set.

The two players traded game for game until the match was tied five-all. After each player neid serve, the set was sent into a tiebreaker.

At one point during the tiebreaker, Austrian and Fleming had a five-minute rally until Fleming charged the net. The ball barely skimmed the net and fell onto Austrian's side to win the tie-breaker for Fleming.

Fleming went on to capture a 6-1 decision in the second set.

Austrian still exits her Harvard career as a winner. The senior dropped only two individual Ivy matches during her four-year career. Harvard also won four Ivy championships and posted an incredible 28-0 mark in Ivy competition during her stint.

Doubles

If Harvard could have pulled out one more victory in singles, the squad would have forced the match into doubles. The Crimson has three doubles teams that have proven they can compete with just about any team in the country.

"We could have done a lot better," Dragomirescu said. "It was too bad that we didn't get to play doubles The match would have been a lot different."

In addition to playing in the team competition, Bland and Henikoff, the nation's 30th-ranked doubles team, are entered in the NCAA doubles championship. The duo has recorded an impressive 25-11 mark.

The season is over, and the Crimson can go back to studying. After garnering its sixth straight Ivy title and defeating some of the top teams in the country, Harvard can next look forward to better things next year as the netwomen lose only Austrian to graduation.

Harvard's future is so bright, its got to wear shades. Harvard women's tennis in the NCAA's

1984: USC 8, Harvard 1

1985: Stanford 9, Harvard 0

1986: Stanford 8, Harvard 1

1987: Florida 8, Harvard 1

1988: Trinity 5, Harvard 1

From 1984-1987, Harvard drew the tournament's top-seed in its first-round match. This year, the NCAA changed the format so teams seeded from 13-20 would play each other in the first round, while the top 12 seeds all received first-round byes. This year, Harvard, seeded 20th, fell to 13th-seeded Trinity.