Women's Tennis Club Gets Off on Right Foot

It took many months of effort and preparation, but the dream of senior Annie Oreskovich has finally come true.

With its dominating performance in the Harvard Invitational last Thursday at the Murr Center, the Crimson Women's Tennis team established itself as a major factor in non-varsity Harvard sports.

The Crimson Women's Tennis Team is composed of a group of women who compete intercollegiately and hold weekly practices but lack the time to commit to varsity or junior varsity tennis at Harvard. Last winter, Oreskovich and seniors Karinne Jervis and Supinda Bunyavanich got together and formed the team with the hope of eventually organizing matches against other colleges.

Thursday's invitational welcomed varsity teams from Emerson and Wentworth Colleges, but the Crimson women were not gracious hosts. Led by their founders, they punished their guests mercilessly, winning 6-0 against both teams. The Crimson did not lose a set the whole event and Oreskovich and Jervis dropped a combined ten games between them. In fact, Oreskovich needed just an hour and fifteen minutes to dispose of two opponents.

Jervis and Oreskovich also teamed up to play against Emerson's top doubles tandem. The result was more of the same, with the Crimson losing only two games in two sets of play.

Despite the Crimson's effortless success, Oreskovich kept things in perspective. "I was so excited about this opportunity to host area colleges and give Harvard women the chance to play in a city-wide tournament."

The Crimson is underfeated in match play. The team celebrated its opening match October 1 with a 10-2 thrashing of Simmons College, and it followed up with a shutout victory against Emerson on October 19. In this match, the Crimson lost a total of 7 games as a team.

The remarkable success of this newly formed entity makes its conception quite intriguing. Oreskovich, who was ranked in the Pacific Northwest region of the USTA in high school, sorely missed competitive tennis upon arriving at Harvard.

"I had played competitively for many years and when I got here I greatly missed playing matches," Oreskovich said.

When Oreskovich found two others who shared her feelings, the three women decided to take action. Months of planning and scheduling have indeed paid off for Oreskovich, Jervis and Bunyavanich, whose efforts have put the Crimson Women's Tennis team on the brink of club recognition.

Though Crimson Women's Tennis currently has a strong core of players, others are welcome to participate; contact Karinne Jervis at jervis@fas.