W. Tennis Downs Owls, Drop to Eagles

The women's tennis team fell just short of a sweep on Saturday, dropping the evening match to Boston College, 4-3, after defeating Temple 6-1 earlier in the day.

Competing without two of its top players, Harvard (2-4) looked a little tired in the final singles matches against the Eagles. But there was certainly not a lack of effort in the defeat.

Five of the six singles matches went to three sets.

The evening match started out well for the Crimson as it swept all three doubles matches. Junior Sarah McGinty and sophomore Lara Naqushbandi won easily at the number three spot, and junior Jennie Timoney and senior co-captain Sanaz Ghazal shut out the eagles at the second slot.

The number one doubles match proved to be more difficult. Juniors Fleur Broughton and Andrea Magyera won an hour and a half long duel in the tiebreak by a score of 8-6.

That match would prove to take its toll on Broughton. She dropped 4-6, 1-6 at the number one singles spot later in the evening.

At number two singles, Naqushbandi was up 3-0 in the third set but would end up losing six straight games and fall 6-3, 1-6, 3-6.

At the number. four and five singles positions, McGinty and Timoney played identical matches until the third set. Each player dropped the first set 4-6 before recovering with 6-2 wins in the second. But McGinty would drop the third, 2-6, while Timoney won her final set easily 6-1.

At this point it did not look good for the Crimson, as the Eagles had taken a 3-2 overall edge and had the advantage in the remaining two matches.

Playing in the number six spot, sophomore Olivia Garcia-McKean was down 1-4 in the third after splitting the first two sets. Faced with several break points that would have put her down 1-5, Garcia-McKean held serve and went on to sweep the remaining games for an amazing 6-4 comeback.

"I was tired, but I knew we needed the win and my teammates support helped me get through it," Garcia-McKean said.

The number six match locked the score at 3-3 with one match still underway.

Freshman Lola Ajilore was playing at the no. 3 singles position. After winning the first set in a tiebreaker, she dropped the second 5-7 and found herself down 2-5 in the third.

It seemed as though magic was going to strike a second time for the Crimson as Ajilore made her way back to 4-5, saving several match points in the process. She couldn't quite pull off the comeback, however, and finally succumbed 4-6 in the third set.

"We lost some close matches [against B.C.]," Garcia-McKean said. "But the B.C. girls came out and played really well, you have to give them that."

The Crimson played a strong match in their morning victory over the Owls.

They again swept the doubles matches and earned the single team point for the overall score.

Naqushbandi coasted 6-0, 6-2 at number three and Ajilore was solid at number four with a 6-3, 6-2 win.

Timoney made quick work of her opponent at the number six spot with a 6-1, 6-2 victory.

Broughton had a tough three set match at number two but played extremely well to earn the victory after dropping the first set.

At the number five spot McGinty was up 7-5, 6-5 before her opponent had to retire due to injury.

Ghazal, who has been plagued by a nagging leg injury, lost her number one match 4-6, 1-6.

Overall, Harvard coach Gordon Graham was pleased with his team's performance.

"We knew it was going to be a tough day," Graham said.

Graham is hopeful that sophomore Sanja Bajin, the returning number one singles player, will be back from a leg injury sometime next weekend.

Harvard hosts Virginia and Massachusetts next Sunday at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., respectively. Both matches will be held at the Murr center.