W. Tennis Splits Weekend Versus Brown, Yale

The Harvard women's tennis team split a pair of games this weekend, dropping a 5-2 decision to Yale on Friday before rebounding yesterday against Brown, 5-2.

Yale (11-5, 5-1 Ivy) fell behind Harvard (11-9, 4-2) early on Friday, losing the first two doubles matches of the day.

Harvard's No. 1doubles team of sophomore Sanja Bajin and captain Sanaz Ghazal easily defeated Yale's top team of Andrea Goldberg and Elizabeth Kaufman, 8-4.

"We came out strong on Friday and we won the doubles' points," captain Andrea Magyera said. "Everyone fought hard."

Harvard's won just as easily at No. 2, with junior Fleur Broughton and junior Magyera beating Yale's second team 8-2.

Yale's Susie Hiniker and Liz Oosterhuis topped Sarah McGinty and Lara Naqushbandi at the No. 3 doubles in a tight 9-7 contest on the way to a 5-2 victory.

Bajin managed to pull out her match at No. 1 singles, defeating Goldberg 6-3, 6-4. After that, events took a distinctly Bulldog turn. Yale's Margaret Purcell defeated Boughton, 6-3, 6-3, and then Buffy Kaufman routed Ghazal, 6-1, 6-1. After those two wins, Yale gained momentum, winning the Nos. 4 through 6 singles matches.

"The loss to Yale was pretty disappointing," Ghazal said.

Friday's loss to Yale could have put a damper on the Crimson's weekend if they had been unable to bounce back.

Harvard had been riding the momentum of a strong victory over Princeton, one of the top teams in the Ivy League, into its contest with Yale.

Previous to Harvard's victory over Princeton, the Crimson lost to league-leading Penn, 6-1. Harvard's ability to bounce back and beat a strong Princeton squad after the difficult loss to Penn provided valuable composure entering Sunday's match against Brown.

Harvard's win over Brown (7-11, 1-4) brought the Crimson much closer to Penn and Yale, who are one-two in the Ivy League Standings.

"Yale is really tough," Lara Naqushbandi said. "We kinda rebounded back. We played really well against Brown."

The Crimson also swept all three doubles matches, winning by a comfortable margin in each contest. The second doubles team of Broughton and Magyera were especially dominant yesterday, winning, 8-1.

Bajin defeated Brown's Heather Young 6-4, 6-3, at No. 1 singles. Following Bajin, Broughton won easily, beating Olivia Wong 6-3, 6-0. The Crimson suffered a setback at No. 3 singles, as Brown's Irene Adsuar narrowly edged Ghazal in a grueling match, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4.

The Crimson took the fourth and fifth singles matches behind the efforts of sophomore Naqushbandi and junior Jennie Timoney.

The women's tennis team concludes its Ivy League season on Wednesday at Dartmouth.

"Our team is hoping to finish the season on a positive note,"