Strong Show for W. Tennis at Princeton

Ask any athlete what the keys to success are, and you'll probably hear these answers: strength, concentration, raw talent and determination.

Ask tennis player senior Rachel Pollock, and you'll get a different response: the socks you wear, the number of Cheerios you eat for breakfast and the alignment of Jupiter and Saturn on the day of your birth.

Pollock's incredible performance keyed a strong weekend for the Harvard women's tennis team at the Princeton Invitational this weekend.

Pollock captured first place in her flight without dropping a set. Sophomore Agata Passent also won her flight.

While head coach Gordon Graham accredits Pollock's wins to her taking control in every match and playing aggressive tennis, Pollock is a bit more superstitious.

"As far as I'm concerned, it could've been the way the scorecards were changed, or how many sips of water I took between games that did it," she said.

The native of Boca Raton, Fla., neatly disposed of Caroline Reynolds of Virginia Commonwealth in the finals, 6-1, 6-0, en route to her title.

"Rachel really won in convincing fashion," Graham said of the victory. "It was obvious that she wasn't out there just to last."

Passent, who until this week had been rehabilitating a hamstring injury, also earned a singles title in her flight.

The sophomore defeated Eva Marie Pehrsson of Virginia Commonwealth in three sets, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.

"Agata really showed some guts this weekend," Graham said. "She wasn't feeling well during the entire tournament, but she pulled out some great wins."

Passent and Pollock also competed in the second flight doubles draw. The duo lost a three-set semifinal match to a team that featured the first flight singles champion.

Representing the Crimson in first flight singles, freshman Kate Roiter and junior Co-Captain Eliza Parker both lost first round matches in the main draw. Parker eventually captured the consolation crown by outlasting Princeton's #1 singles player.

Victories against any Princeton players are significant wins, according to Graham. The Tigers are slated as one of the Ivy Championship's top contenders.

In the second flight, senior Erika Elmuts was defeated by eventual champion Kim Jennings of Princeton, but teammate freshman Kelly Granat was victorious in her consolation final.

Freshman Erica Cheng played "a gutsy tournament," said Graham. Suffering from a toe condition, she nevertheless pulled out a three-set victory against Princeton's Kelly Portzbach in the third flight draw.

Junior Mary Park also had a successful tournament, defeating a Princeton player on her way to the fourth flight consolation title.

Roiter and Elmuts captured the first doubles consolation title, beating the top Princeton pair along the way.

Graham felt that Harvard players gave a good performance this weekend. "Everyone earned a win or two and had a good feeling for the competition," he said.

"But we have things to work on, and our spring season is still a long ways away," Graham noted.

Princeton hosted players from Richmond, Virginia Commonwealth, and Harvard.

Harvard's next match is the ITA Regional Individual Championships, scheduled for November 6 at Pennsylvania.