Netwomen Defeat Scrappy Penn, 5-4

Last year, the Harvard women's tennis team lost to Pennsylvania for the first time in 12 years. While revenge can be sweet, the Crimson felt bitter. Very bitter. It wasn't going to happen again.

"We felt a little resentment," freshman Kelly Granat said.

So in yesterday's Ivy League season opener in Philadelphia, the Crimson defeated the Quakers, 5-4, in what Coach Gordon Graham called "a scrappy, find-a-way-to-win kind of match."

Battling the nerves that accompany an Ivy opener and the intensity of the Penn crowd, Harvard was not as sharp as it could have been.

But early doubles victories by Co-Captain Melissa McNabb and freshman Kate Roiter and the duo of freshman Kelly Granat and sophomore Kendra Harris swayed the momentum in Harvard's direction, momentum which Harvard would cling to like Saran Wrap around old chicken salad.

"Anytime you get an advantage in doubles, it helps psychologically in singles," Graham said.

The Crimson's aggressive doubles play carried over to the singles matches, as freshman Kelly Granat quickly finished off Penn's Lee Ann Mos 6-2, 6-2 and Co-Captain Eliza Parker defeated Pitria Sorathia 6-4, 6-4.

Despite an injury which forced McNabb--the Crimson's number-two player--to forfeit her singles match and a few late Penn wins, Harvard maintained its intensity and walked away from its first Ivy League contest with a win.

"We could've won by a larger margin...the score was a little too close, but we're happy to get the win," Granat said. "It was a great starting point on which to base the season."

Not only that, but it was a great way for Harvard to rid itself of the lingering bitterness from the previous loss to Penn.