W. Tennis Finishes Perfect 7-0 in Ivies

There is no doubt that the Harvard women's tennis team is the most dominant squad in all of the Ivy League. As for the region, well that is an entirely different story.

After breezing through its Ivy League schedule en route to a perfect 7-0 mark and sole possession of the league title, Harvard (18-7, 7-0 Ivy) could not continue its dominant ways into the NCAA Regional Tournament, as it was upset in the first round by unseeded Virginia Tech.

Record: 18-7, 7-0 Ivy

Coach: Gordon Graham

Highlights: Wins Ivy League with perfect 7-0 record against Ivy opponents; Wins ECAC Championship

Seniors: Gabriela Hricko, Vedica Jain, Rosemary She

That defeat, which brought the final curtain down on the Crimson's 1997-98 campaign, could not overshadow the team's success during the regular season, however.

A string of successful individual matches in the fall hinted at the depth and talent within the Harvard ranks. In mid-October at the Brown Invitational, the Crimson players routed competitors from around the country.

The unseeded Harvard tandem of senior Rosemary She and sophomore Vedica Jain enjoyed a surprise victory in the flight A doubles championship. In first-round action, the Crimson duo drew the top doubles pair from Wisconsin and battled to a hard-fought 8-6 win. Following that upset, She and Vain disposed of a Virginia team, 8-3, before ousting the team from Dartmouth in the finals, 8-6.

While teammate Ivy Wang--the Crimson's top singles player--was sidelined with an injury, co-captain Gabriela Hricko had success on the singles side with an impressive fourth-place finish which included a 6-3, 6-3 win over the tournament's top seed, Barb Privel of Boston College.

The Brown Invitational served as a momentum-builder heading into the all-important ECAC Championships one week later. The Crimson had no problem taking that title over the 16-team field.

"In most of the tourneys we played [in the fall], we did very well as individuals," Hricko said.

That fall season, however, was only a tune-up for the spring, where the Crimson would face its toughest schedule.

In February, Harvard began its run with a 9-0 crushing of Old Dominion and then a tight 5-4 victory over No. 48 North Carolina. Its trip to Tar Heel country ended on a sour note the next day, however, against Duke, the No. 3 team in the country.

Wang, playing in the top singles spot, was downed in straight sets by Blue Devil Vanessa Webb, the eventual 1998 NCAA singles champion. It all went downhill from there as the Crimson was unable to pull out a single victory in the match.

"Going into the match against Duke we knew that we had nothing to lose so we just wanted to play our best," Wang said. "Even though we lost, it was good to see what a top team is like."

Non-league foes again proved problematic for Harvard when the team traveled to California for its spring break trip.

Playing against some of the top teams in the nation, the Crimson posted a 1-3 record with its only win coming against Fresno State in a 7-2 decision.

Despite the losing record on the week, the Crimson did come close to upsetting No. 2 Stanford. She and senior Julia Kim grabbed two singles victories before Hricko and Jain paired up to defeat the Cardinal's 10th-ranked doubles team. Unfortunately for Harvard, the Western powerhouse possessed too much firepower and edged out the East Coast visitors in the end, 5-4.

"Stanford was really exciting," said freshman Sanaz Ghazal after the match. "It was a huge accomplishment for our team. Hopefully it will propel us for the rest of the season."

The California trip was indeed the start of the Crimson's roll through the month of April, but it had to endure a tough loss to No. 13 Pepperdine on March 28 before its winning streak could begin.

Returning to its friendly home courts, Harvard started its flawless run to the Ivy title.

A smattering of wins against non-league opponents Virginia, B.C. and B.U. were signs of what was to come in the ensuing month. An easy 6-3 win over Pennsylvania was soon followed by victories over Columbia, Princeton and Cornell. All of a sudden, the losses during spring week seemed like distant memories, as the Crimson rolled through its league schedule and was only two wins from clinching at least a share of the title.

"Everyone tried to keep the [potential title-clinching] weekend in perspective as much as possible," Kim said. "But yeah, everyone was gunning up for it."

The Crimson blanked Yale with ease, 9-0, before downing Brown, 7-2, to claim a piece of the league cake. The final crowning came three days later against a hapless Dartmouth squad. With that win, Harvard capped off its perfect Ivy season and successfully avenged last year's second-place finish to the Bears.

"It feels great--it's nice to be back on top," said Kim following the Dartmouth win. "Losing to Brown last year hurt and I'm so happy we came back so strong. Our team came through and seized the moment."

The Crimson was not completely satisfied just yet, however. For the past two years, Harvard had been ousted from the NCAA Tournament by arch-rival William & Mary.

Last season the Crimson was given a No. 2 seed at the Regional Tournament, but the many non-league losses during the 1998 spring campaign dropped the team to the No. 4 slot. Earlier in the season, the Tribe delivered the Crimson an authoritative 7-1 blow at the Beren Tennis Center.

But in order to battle William & Mary for the precious regional title and an automatic berth into the national tournament, Harvard had to get past unseeded Virginia Tech.

In the end, the highly anticipated regional finals rematch between the Crimson and the Tribe was not meant to be. In the upset of the tournament, the Techsters stunned the Crimson, 5-2.

"We were definitely looking forward to playing [William & Mary] in the second round and to have another shot at them," She said. "We were very disappointed, but in tennis you learn that anything can happen."

In that deciding match, only Hricko and Jain could find the winning touch in the singles bracket. Both Wang and She were ousted in straight sets.

"Virginia Tech played a terrific match and came out ready," Kim said. "It was more how we were ready to handle things. It was a product of us and the situation more than them. It was a hard way to go out and a hard way to bring my tennis career to an end."

It wasn't the way the season was supposed to close out. At the very least, Harvard expected to have its postseason fate decided on the court against William & Mary, not Virginia Tech. Regardless of how the end came about, the Crimson continued what is fast becoming habit, hitting a wall at the regional tournament and failing to advance into the Big Dance.

Despite the disappointing loss, however, the Crimson was able to fly back home to Cambridge knowing that at least its perfect Ivy season was a reality. As for regional play, there is always next year.