Harvard Claims Eight of 11 Titles at Fall Invitational

Harvard women's tennis coach Gordan Graham needs to teach his players a lesson in manners.

This weekend, the Crimson hosted the 2000 Harvard Fall Invitational, a two-day single-elimination tournament involving five teams--Harvard, Davidson, Boston College, Boston University, and Dartmouth. When the dust cleared yesterday afternoon, eleven players were awarded first place trophies (actually Veritas-inscribed mugs). Eight of these eleven presently enroll at Harvard College.

So much for Cambridge hospitality.

There are five singles brackets and three doubles brackets in the Harvard Invitational. Each team is allowed to enter up to two players (or teams) in each bracket, though no more than eight players can compete in each flight. Players can overlap, playing both singles and doubles, if their coaches are so inclined to give them double-duty.

In flight one, the most-advanced leveling of competition, Harvard sophomore Sanja Bajin defeated Boston College's Cynthia Tow in the most dramatic match of the tournament, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4. Bajin is the first Harvard player to defeat Tow, a senior, in three years.

"Though we haven't had much success against Tow in recent years, I wasn't surprised with the win," Graham said. "Bajin's an excellent player, she's got a year of varsity experience under her belt, and she's playing with confidence. It's a great start to her season."

Bajin had little trouble in her first two matches, losing a combined seven games in four sets. Bajin triumphed, 6-0, 6-4, over Catherine Crandall of Dartmouth and followed up with a 6-3, 6-0 win against B.U.'s Christine Causway.

Though Davidson's Lindsay Offutt took advantage of a fatigued Crimson No. 2 Lara Naqushbaudi in the finals of their flight, 6-3, 6-1, Harvard freshman Lola Ajilore took home gold in flight three.

Harvard was actually guaranteed a win in flight three, as both Crimson representatives in the bracket advanced to the final match. Ajilore triumphed over teammate Jennie Timoney 6-3, 6-2.

"It's nice to have Harvard vs. Harvard matches in the finals, but that also means that someone on our team has to lose," Graham said.

The Crimson also closed out the finals of the top two doubles flights. Harvard juniors Andrea Magyera and Fleur Broughton defeated Bajan and senior Sanaz Ghazal in an eight-game pro-set, 8-5, in flight one.

In flight two, Naqshbandi and junior Sarah McGinty shutout sophomore teammates Bomy Hong and Liz Gass, 8-0.

Finally, in flight three, sophomore Olivia Garcia-McKean and freshman Susan Charneco won all three of their matches, giving Harvard a sweep in doubles action.

Graham was pleased with his team's showing, but distraught with the way league play is designed.

"Unfortunately, being good in doubles means very little once league play begins," Graham said, referring to the fact that singles play dominates league matches. "We have to focus on one-on-one matches rather than strengthening our already solid doubles."

To round out tournament action, B.U.'s Hanna Bartell advanced over B.C.'s Jessica Engle in flight four, 6-2, 6-0, while Dartmouth's Kelsey Surbaugh won the flight five title with a 7-6, 6-4 win against Harvard's Charneco.