W. Tennis Beats Bulldogs

Whew.

The Harvard women's tennis team blew a collective sigh of relief on Thursday when it learned that co-captain Jill Brenner and freshman Maryla Madura had been cleared for play by the NCAA eligibility commission.

The relaxed Crimson squad then proceeded to squarely defeat the visiting Yale squad, 5-2 yesterday afternoon at the Beren Tennis Center, keeping its chance for an Ivy-League title alive.

Madura was forced to miss last Friday's match, a 4-3 loss to Princeton, as both Brenner's and Madura's participation in tournament was being reviewed for possible eligibility violations.

"We submitted all the facts to the NCAA," head coach Gordon Graham said. "They got back to us on Thursday and both players had their eligibility restored."

"The eligibility issue has been on the forefront of everyone's mind," Graham said. "This whole week has been an emotional roller coaster."

The news from the NCAA, and today's win against a tough Yale team should put the Crimson (5-5 overall; 3-1 Ivy ) on more stable ground.

The Crimson's win began with an impressive showing by the three doubles teams.

At first doubles Brenner and sophomore Kate Roiter won, 8-4. The duo of freshman Gina Majmudar and sophomore Kelly Granat took second doubles, 8-4. The third doubles match saw the Crimson's Madura and co-captain Kendra Harris win, 8-6.

"We worked a lot of doubles this week," Graham said. "The doubles point is a crucial point for us and I think we've gotten better there."

The singles action saw the Crimson netters take four of the six matches.

Majmudar kept her Ivy-League record at second singles perfect with a 6-3, 6-2 win. At fifth singles Granat won in straight sets, 6-4 6-3. Roiter clinched the victory for Harvard, coming back to take the match, 2-6 ,6-3, 6-1.

Madura, back after the forced sabbatical, won her match at fourth singles, 7-5, 3-6, 6-1.

"It was a good feeling to have the whole line-up playing again," Roiter said.

The Crimson with its full line-up will play host to Brown tomorrow. The Bears, 0-5 in the Ancient Eight, should not pose the threat that the Elis did today.

Still, the Crimson players are not taking any of their matches for granted.

"They do have a pretty good team," Roiter said. "I don't think we can look past them."

After Brown the Crimson enter the season's home stretch with its final two matches against Dartmouth and Cornell, who currently, along with Harvard and Princeton, have only one Ivy-League loss apiece.

Going into the final two weekends of the regular season, one thing is certain--the race for the Ivy-League crown will be a close one.

Hopefully for the Crimson, when its all over it can breath another sigh of relief.

Whew.