Netwomen Catch the Waves, 5-4

You can't keep a good team down.

The Harvard women's tennis team upset ninth-ranked Pepperdine Thursday, 5-4, en route to Coach Ed Krass' 50th career victory and the Crimson's first-ever winning record on its annual West Coast whirl.

By knocking off Pacific, UC-Irvine and the highly touted Waves, the Crimson reversed the tide of its opening three-game slide. Harvard will enter its key matches this weekend against top Eastern seed William & Mary with an invigorated outlook.

"Pepperdine was maybe the turning point of the season," Krass said. "This is the biggest victory in the history of Harvard women's tennis."

"It unfolded a new card, showing that we can compete with any team," Krass continued. "The team came out hungry and fresh. We saw a new life and began to believe in ourselves. It was a big revelation that we can win not only the Ivy race but the Easterns."

Welcome to the Hotel California

But Harvard initially struggled to ride the surfboard of success.

Last Saturday, 22nd-ranked U.S. International capitalized on the Crimson's jetlag and lack of outdoor inexperience in a 6-3 victory.

"We just came out flat," Co-Captain Nicole Rival said. "It was a number of things--flying time, not being used to the sun and wind. We weren't ready for the competitive edge it takes to win. We needed a close match."

And UC-Santa Barbara didn't help, routing Harvard on Wednesday. Pepperdine's shadow loomed ominously over the horizon. It was time for Krass to shake up his lineup.

Floridian freshman Rachel Pollock--a better player outdoors--moved from sixth singles up to the fourth slot against Pepperdine. The gamble paid off, as Pollock pulverized Pepperdine's Anna Lefebvre by a 6-0, 6-0 margin.

"Coming from Florida, the outdoors helped my game," Pollock said. "[Lefebvre] is a big girl. I just moved her around, working the points from the baseline."

After Pepperdine's Camilla Ohrman and Anna Brumsgrum defeated Harvard's Cristina Dragomirescu and Jamie Henikoff at first and third singles, the Crimson's second-seeded Amy deLone knocked off Carrie Crisbell to even the match at 2-2, surrendering just four games in the entire match.

A Jen Minkus victory at fifth singles followed by a Pepperdine injury default at sixth provided the Crimson with a commanding 4-2 lead in the match coming into doubles action.

Pepperdine refused to say die, over-coming Harvard's top two doubles teams, but Minkus and Rival spoiled the comeback in the deciding third doubles match to ice Krass' silver victory.

"It was sort of a truth and evalua- tional time out there," Krass said. "We sensedthat to make a run at the season, we needed thiswin. We were very determined."

Harvard was on a roll.

Next, the Crimson breezed by Pacific by 6-3 astop seed Dragomirescu snapped a personalfour-match slide to cap the Crimson win, whichalso marked a historic turning point in Harvardwomen's tennis. Three of Harvard's past Easternchampions had fallen to Pacific by identical 5-4scores.

Harvard shot past UC-Irvine to conclude itsCalifornia comeback. Dragomirescu, DeLone,Henikoff and Melinda Wang prevailed in singlesplay. The demolition duos of DeLone/Henikoff andDragomirescu/Pollock were victorious in doublesaction.

"In the last three matches, we turned our seasonaround by 180 degrees," Dragomirescu said