W. Tennis Drops Two During Louisiana Road Trip

Despite battling through several close matches last weekend, the Harvard women's tennis team came up empty in dual matches during its three-day road trip to Louisiana.

After losing 8-1 to No.26 LSU on Sunday, the team came out strong Monday in singles competition against No. 40 Tulane but could not pull off a victory, losing 6-3.

Harvard's spring record in dual matches this season dropped to 1-2 after the weekend's losses but learned valuable lessons after competing against nationally ranked schools.

"I think we played great," captain Vedica Jain said. "They were both tough teams, and we were close in almost every match."

The 8-1 loss to LSU Sunday may not seem like a close match, with the Crimson's only victory coming from sophomore Jenny Timoney playing in the No. 6 spot.

However, several other Crimson players went to three sets during their matches, including a 7-6 loss in the third set by sophomore Andrea Magyera in the No. 4 slot.

"In the singles we had a lot of close three-set matches that could have gone either way, but that we ended up losing," freshman Sanja Bajin said.

On Monday against Tulane, the team at one point looked to be on its way to winning during singles' competition, with Harvard winning five of its first six sets.

However, of the five singles that took the first set, only Bajin came away with a win, taking the match 6-2, 1-6, 6-2.

The rest ended up losing in three sets.

"We knew going into Tulane that we had a chance at beating them," Bajin said. "There was a point early where it look like we had [won] it, but the momentum changed, and we couldn't hold on."

The team fared better in doubles competition, with the No. 1 doubles team of Bajin and junior Sanaz Ghazal coming from a 6-2 deficit to win 9-7. The No. 2 team of Jain and Magyera also won, posting an 8-5 victory.

However, after dropping five of six singles matches, it proved to be too little too late for the Crimson to recover.

One of the reasons for Harvard's downfall this weekend was the climate. The warmer Louisiana weather meant the team played both matches outdoors instead of the indoor facilities in which it usually plays.

"I'm not going to say we lost because of it, they were both good teams," Bajin said. "But it could have helped us to have been out a little more."

The team is off this weekend, then travels south again to face Virginia and North Carolina.

"We just need to keep working hard," Jain said. "We played really well this weekend, I think it will help us in the future."