W. Tennis to Open Season At No. 13

The Harvard women’s tennis team will enter its spring campaign ranked No. 13 in the nation according to the pre-season Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) rankings—one spot higher than the No. 14 position with which it ended the 2002-2003 season.

The Crimson returns all but one member to a squad that went 21-5 en route to a Sweet 16 appearance in the NCAA tournament before being ousted by No. 1 Stanford.

Harvard struggled to find its rhythm in the fall season, hampered by lingering off-season rust and injuries which curtailed the play of several team members. But those setbacks did not dissuade voters from giving the Crimson the highest ranking of any Ivy or Northeast region school. Defending national champion Florida topped the polls, while Stanford is No. 2.

Ancient Eight rivals Yale and Brown were also tapped for the list, ranked No. 57 and 65, respectively.

In the individual rankings, co-captain Courtney Bergman remains No. 25 in the country following a strong performance in the fall. She is the top-ranked Ivy player.

Co-captain Susanna Lingman and sophomore Eva Wang, both ranked in the fall season, were omitted from the list due to “insufficient data.” The duo of Bergman and Lingman, however, was ranked No. 49.