Netwomen Vanquish Penn, 8-1

Penn thought it had a chance to beat Harvard yesterday in Philadelphia.

Maybe it's because the Crimson had a 7-10 record. Maybe it's because Harvard lost its top two players from the fall. Maybe it's because two of the Crimson players were suffering through illnesses.

But maybe Penn just doesn't know better.

The Crimson opened its Ivy season with an 8-1 thrashing of Penn. The seasons may change, but the results haven't. Last fall, Harvard recorded a 9-0 win over the Quakers.

"It really went well," Harvard Co-Captain Kathy Mulvehal said. "We started off pretty shaky in doubles. We weren't playing aggressively at first. I think we took them for granted. But everyone turned it around and played really well in singles."

At numer-one singles, junior Christina Dragomirescu cruised to a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Elena Fishberg, while Amy deLone recorded a 6-2, 6-2 decision over Andrea Askowitz.

The rout continued--sophomore Jamie Henikoff also won her match in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3.

Without a doubt, the easiest match of the day was at fourth singles. Mulvehal blasted Meredith Stein, 6-0, 6-0, continuing her four-year Ivy individual match undefeated string.

At fifth singles, freshman Jennifer Minkus destroyed Becky Friedman, 6-3, 6-3, and senior Nicole Rival stormed to a 6-4, 6-0 triumph over Chris Gardner.

"We didn't play that well at first," Dragomirescu said. "But it was just a matter of playing our kind of tennis. Everybody played really well in singles. We all took it very seriously."

Double Trouble

The doubles matches proved a little more interesting than singles--the Crimson fell behind in all three doubles matchups, dropping the first set in each one.

DeLone and Henikoff lost their first set to Sophia Ray and Stein, 7-5. But the duo rallied to win the final two sets, 6-2, 6-2.

Not to be outdone by deLone and Henikoff, Mulvehal and Dragomirescu also dropped their first set, 6-4, before rebounding to nab the next two, 6-1, 6-2, to win the match.

Minkus and Rival were the only blemish on Harvard's scoresheet, dropping a 7-6, 6-4 straight set decision to Jennifer Worth and Askowitz.

"Everyone played well in singles," Henikoff said. "We underestimated them at first. They were really scrappy. They were pulling out points that we didn't think they would."