W. Tennis Dealt First Ivy Loss

This past weekend’s Ivy League road trip brought mixed results for the Harvard women’s tennis team. Despite an impressive 6-1 victory over Princeton on Saturday, a 5-2 loss to defending champion Penn the previous afternoon dealt a serious blow to the Crimson’s hopes of an Ivy championship. But the team is not giving up hope.

“It was a pretty disappointing match,” Bergman said. “Our goal was to win the Ivy League and Penn was one of the deciding matches, but we still have other matches, so we can’t dwell on the loss.”

Harvard 6, Princeton 1

Despite the previous day’s loss, the Crimson was able to come back with a convincing victory against Princeton.

Harvard swept doubles play. The first doubles team of freshmen Courtney Bergman and Susanna Lingman defeated Penn’s Kavitha Krishmanurty and Avantika Bhargava, 8-5. Sophomore Sanja Bajin and freshman Alexis Martire beat Priya Bhupathi and Kristi Watson, 8-5, and senior Sarah McGinty and co-captain Fleur Broughton beat Alex Kobishyn and Stephanie Berg.

The Crimson was able to win five of the six singles matches. Lingman, playing at No. 2 singles defeated Watson 6-2, 6-3. Martire beat Bhupathi 6-3, 6-2, Bajin beat Berg 6-2, 1-6, 6-2, Broughton defeated Jackie Arcario 6-1, 6-4, and Lara Nagoshibandi beat Kristi Carlin 6-3, 6-4.

The only defeat for The Crimson was at the No. 1 singles spot where Kavitha Krishnamurthy defeated Bergman 7-5, 3-6, 1-0

Penn 5, Harvard 2

Harvard was the 13th straight Ivy opponent to lose to Penn, who is now ranked No. 53 in the nation.

Penn began the match on strong footing by winning the doubles point. Though the Harvard first doubles team of Courtney Bergman and Susanna Lingman was able to win their match, Penn’s No. 2 team of Alice Pirsu and Shelah Chao was able to defeat Bajin and Martire, 8-4. In the third doubles match, Raluca Ciulei and Nikki Ptak of Penn defeated McGinty and Broughton, 8-5.

The Penn team was able to keep its momentum in the singles matches, where it won four of the six contests. Harvard’s sole winners were Lingman, who won her match at the No. 2 singles spot against Sanela Kunovac 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, and Martire, who defeated Raluca Ciuei 6-3, 6-4. Three of the four defeats came in straight sets, with Nikki Ptak defeating Bagin 6-1, 6-3, Shelah Chao beating Broughton 6-1, 6-1 and Rachel Shweky defeating senior Lara Naqushbandi, 6-4, 6-4.

The closest match of the day was the top singles match between nationally-ranked No. 17 Alice Pirsu of Penn and No. 23 Courtney Bergman. Even though Bergman lost 3-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-7), the match was close.

“When we were playing, the match had already been decided so we had to play a ten point tiebreak,” Bergman said. “In a situation like that, the match can go either way.”

Penn 5, W. Tennis 2

at Philadelphia, Penn.

Doubles

1. Lingman/Bergman (H) def. Shurcky/Kunovac (P) 8-1

2. Pirsu/Chao (P) def. Bajin/Martire (H) 8-4

3. Ciulei/Ptak (P) def. McGinty/Broughton (H) 8-5

Singles

1. Pirsu (P) def. Bergman (H) 3-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-7)

2. Lingman (H) def. Kunovac (P) 1-6, 6-3, 6-4

3. Martire (H) def. Ciulei (P) 6-3, 6-4

4. Ptak (P) def. Bajin (H) 6-1, 6-3

5. Chan (P) def. Broughton (H) 6-1, 6-1

6. Shurcky (P) def. Naqushbandi (H) 6-4, 6-4

W. Tennis 6, Princeton 1

at Princeton, N.J.

Doubles

1. Bergman/Lingman (H) def. Krishmanurthy/Bhargava (P) 8-5

2. Bajin/Martire (H)def. Bhupathi/Watson (P) 8-5

3. McGinty/Broughton (H) def. Kobishyn/Berg (P) 9-8 (4)

Singles

1. Krishnamurthy (P) def. Bergman (H) 7-5, 3-6, 1-0 (3)

2. Lingman (H) def. Watson (P) 6-2, 6-3

3. Martire (H) def. Bhupathi (P) 6-3, 6-2

4. Bajin (H) def. Berg (P) 6-2, 1-6, 6-2

5. Broughton (H) def. Jackie Arcario; (P) 6-1, 6-4

6. Lara Naqushibandi (H) ded. Kristi Carlin (P) 6-3, 6-4