W. Tennis Sweeps Weekend

Although the Ivy title is out of reach for the women's tennis team, Harvard used this past weekend as a tune-up for the NCAA tournament.

The Crimson returned to the friendly confines of the Murr Center on Friday and cruised to an 8-1 victory against Brown. On Saturday, Harvard (11-10, 5-1 Ivy) traveled to Yale where it handily defeated the Bulldogs 7-2.

Harvard 7, Yale 2

Though spring showers forced the match from the Beren Tennis Center, the team's brand-new outdoor facility, the Crimson seemed comfortable on its sort-of-new indoor hardcourts.

Yale's improved team nearly defeated Princeton and posed a more serious threat to Harvard than Brown, setting the scene for an exciting afternoon match. The anticipated battle against the rival Elis turned out to be anticlimactic, as the Crimson rolled to a 7-2 victory.

The top three seeds paced the Crimson, opening up a quick lead over a tough Yale line-up. In the top slot, freshman Sanja Bajin took a two-set victory, while captain Vedica Jain and junior Sanaz Ghazal scrapped out a pair of close three-set victories.

Freshman Lara Naqushbandi's woes continued, as she was unable to find her rhythm, losing in straight sets. Sophomore Fleur Broughton, unable to rally on Saturday, also dropped her match in straight sets, sending Harvard into the double portion with a 4-2 lead.

With a gritty team effort, the Crimson swept the doubles matches and clinched a 7-2 victory. The win put Harvard over .500 for the season and boosted its conference record to 5-1.

Riding this current three-game win streak, the Crimson hopes to close out its Ivy League season with a victory over Dartmouth this Wednesday in Hanover. Even though Princeton has the Ivy title wrapped up, the Crimson wants to end the season on a positive note.

"We still want to finish the season strong," Bajin said. "We just have to go in there, not be too overconfident, and just get the job done."

Harvard 8, Brown 1

Coming off a close road victory over Pennsylvania last Saturday, the potent Crimson roster smothered the injury-plagued Bears, clinching the victory before the doubles portion of the match even started.

The top three seeds for the women easily defeated their opponents, each grabbing her singles victory in straight sets to open up an early 3-0 lead for Harvard. The quick start set the tempo for the rest of the day, as the Crimson never relinquished the lead in the match.

Bajin and Jain continued their impressive play and dismantled Brown's top players, each taking their match with a pair of 6-2 sets. Ghazal defeated Irene Adsuar, 6-4, 6-1 at the three spot, setting up the rest of the team for the singles sweep.

The remainder of singles play, however, proved more difficult for the Crimson. The Bears fought back despite the early deficit, stretching the remaining three singles matches to three sets.

Naqushbandi fell to Brown's Caroline Casey in Harvard's only loss of the day. After dropping the first set, Naqushbandi was unable to complete a second-set comeback, falling, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2. Sophomore Sarah McGinty picked up the slack in her match, finding her rhythm after struggling in the first-set to take a three-set victory.

In the most dramatic action of the lopsided day, Broughton stunned opponent Candace Garcia with a flurry of five straight wins in the third set to steal the victory. Broughton's come-from-behind win clinched the match for Harvard with three doubles left to play.

During doubles competition, the Crimson continued to dominate Brown, winning each match with relative ease en route to a convincing 8-1 victory in the important league contest. The win was Harvard's 10th of the season and gave the Crimson some momentum for its road match against Yale on Saturday.