M. Tennis Edges Cowboys; W. Tennis Wins

Last week, the Duke Blue Devils lost to the Maryland Terrapins at home, ending its two-year home winning streak.

Too bad. At least one collegiate streak is alive and well as the Harvard men's tennis team opened its spring dual season with a 4-3 victory over the visiting Oklahoma State Cowboys this weekend. The victory extends the Crimson's home winning streak to 36 matches dating back to 1994.

Harvard, which is ranked No. 25 in the country in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) rankings, started off strong by winning the doubles point. Co-captain Joe Green paired up with freshman Dave Lingman to take out Chris Bates and Frantisek Krepelka 8-4 at No. 2 doubles, while a win at No. 3 by junior Andrew Styperek and sophomore William Lee clinched the point.

The other captain, John Doran, played in a meet for the first time all season. He had been nursing a knee injury since September and saw no action in the fall or winter. In this weekend's match, he was relegated to playing only doubles. Unfortunately, Doran and partner Cillie Swart lost at the No. 1 spot to Eru Lyndon and Matt Prentice, 8-5.

With Doran playing only doubles, every Crimson player moved up one position in the lineup. In the singles, Harvard took the first set of each match. Lee finished first, soundly defeating Bates 6-2, 6-1.

The Crimson (5-0) moved a step closer to victory in the best-of-seven match with a victory coming at the No. 6 spot as Anthony Barker soundly beat Jeremy Ewert 6-2, 6-3. But even facing a 3-0 deficit, the Cowboys weren't ready to fold.

At the Nos. 1, 4, and 5 position each Oklahoma State (4-1) player won his second set. At No. 2, Lingman and Prentice were fighting out a close second set. Jiri Jezek then took out Swart in three sets, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 to get the Cowboys to within two.

Lingman, however, was able to hold off Prentice at 6-4 in the second set to clinch the win. Green, playing No. 1, lost in three and Styperek lost to Krepelka to finish out the match with the 4-3 win.

The next match for Harvard is against the Kansas Jayhawks, 5 p.m. Friday at the Murr Center.

Women's Tennis

The Harvard women's tennis team also opened its spring season this weekend, playing Big Ten opponent Minnesota at home. Harvard won 6-3 in the best-of-nine contest.

The Crimson split the singles with the Lady Gophers. Nora Sauska took out top-seeded Harvard captain Vedica Jain in straight sets, 7-6, 6-4. Freshman Sanja Bajin took Gopher opponent Kim Simonsen to a third-set tiebreaker, but ultimately lost 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (4). Harvard won at the Nos. 2, 5, and 6 spot to get the match to 3-3 after the singles.

Doubles was all Harvard all the time. Bajin paired with junior Sanaz Ghazal to defeat the team of Simonsen/Havelkova 8-3. The clincher came at the No. 2 doubles match, where Jain and teammate sophomore Andrea Magyera narrowly beat Amy Thomas and Jenny Howard 9-8. Harvard also beat Minnesota with a win at the finals doubles spot to add the final touch.

Harvard was ranked No. 52 at the last ITA poll and improves to 3-1.