W. Tennis' Five-Year Ivy Reign Ends

The Harvard women's tennis team made a respectable showing during the 1999-2000 season, finishing up the year on the plus side with a 12-11 record overall and 5-2 record in the Ivy League.

However, the season did not end exactly as the Crimson had intended. Harvard was denied a bid for the NCAA tournament in Malibu, Cailf., for the first time in five years, and it was unable to defend its Ivy League title against undefeated Princeton.

The Crimson has a good chance in coming seasons to regain its past glory, as Harvard will only bid farewell to one senior, captain Vedica Jain. And the lone junior on the squad--Sanaz Ghazal--will step up to fill Jain's shoes next fall as co-captain along with sophomore Andrea Magyera.

The Crimson will miss Jain sorely next year. Not only was Jain the captain of the team, but she was also one of the most productive members with a 5-1 record, despite an injury that sidelined her for much of the season.

"We will gain some good freshmen, but we will part with an amazing senior, Vedica Jain," Magyera said.

Jain was chosen for the All-Ivy First Team in singles for the second consecutive year, along with freshman Sanja Bajin, an outstanding rookie who played No. 1 singles and doubles for the Crimson this year.

Ghazal and Bajin were the first unanimous selections to the All-Ivy First Team in doubles after boasting a 6-1 record in the Ivy. Their only loss came in their last doubles match of the season, in a heartbreaking 6-3 team loss to Dartmouth in Hanover last month.

The loss to the Big Green did not help Harvard's chances of an at-large bid to the NCAA finals. Last season, the Crimson was given a berth because of its league championship, and was the only Ivy League team to appear at the tournament.

The 7-2 loss to the Tigers, which sealed the Crimson's Ivy fate, and its first loss to Dartmouth in five years, meant that Harvard would not be returning to NCAAs.

However, many bright spots were peppered throughout the season. The untimely losses to Princeton and Dartmouth both snapped three-game win streaks, long successful stretches that the Crimson hoped to carry through the end of the season. Harvard finished the year on a good note, downing cross-town rival Boston University, 5-1.

In one of the most highly touted matches of the day, Jain defeated the Terriers' Selin Nassi, the America East Conference's top player last year, in straight 7-5 sets. Jain left her last collegiate match to the sounds of cheers from her teammates and fans.

Harvard Coach Gordon Graham and his squad are already looking toward next season, and they are setting their sights on regaining the lost Ivy gold.

"After some tough losses this past season, we are already wanting to get back out there for some serious revenge," Magyera said. "Next year we will regain our Ivy title."

Under the guidance of Graham and his two newly selected team leaders, next year's recruits will quickly be integrated and strengthen the team's core. And the veterans will be looking to improve upon their play and stay healthy.

Besides Jain, many of her teammates, including Magyera and Ghazal, were sidelined with various injuries that prevented the team from gelling, a fact that Harvard intends to change this season.

"We are looking forward to next year with people coming back strong and healthy," Maygera said.

All in all, the Crimson has much to look forward to. Still an incredibly young team, Harvard has a significant amount of time to gain skills and improve. But the short-term goals--namely, regaining the Ivy League title--will certainly be within grasp.

"We have had kind of a rough season this year, but we are hoping to take what we have learned and come back stronger next season," Ghazal said. "We are all going to be working hard over the summer in order to get off to a strong start."