W. Tennis To Take on Ohio St.

Forgive the tournament-bound ladies of the No. 34 Harvard women’s tennis team if they are experiencing a mild case of déjà vu after the announcement of yesterday’s NCAA bracket, carried live on ESPNews.

For the second time in as many years, Beren Tennis Center will serve as one of 16 regional sites hosting first- and second-round play, May 14-16, before the remaining teams converge on Athens, Ga. in the Sweet Sixteen.

“It’s better to have all your fans and supporters out there,” sophomore Eva Wang said. “Out on the court it’s not supposed to make a difference because you’re supposed to block everything else out. But it’s just a lot more fun.”

Not to mention a whole lot more successful. Wang “can’t remember” the last time the Crimson lost at home, and she isn’t alone. That’s because in her two years at Harvard, the Crimson has unsuccessfully defended the baselines at Beren zero times.

And just like last year, playing at home means an easier time hitting backhands and the books at the same time. While many of its opponents’ academic years will already have ended, Harvard’s most crucial time on the court coincides all too perfectly with crunch time in the classroom.

“That’s always a concern for us,” Wang said. “It’s really hard to go out and play tennis. If you’re going to play tennis you can’t think about anything else. A person like me—I couldn’t do anything like study right before a match.”

And as was the case in 2003, despite home court advantage, the Crimson will not be the highest seed in Cambridge. That honor falls to Kentucky—No. 17 according to the national poll released Monday, seeded 15th in the bracket—as it did to Arizona last year.

Harvard, awarded a 17-32 seed, will again be second-best on paper, and is slated to face Ohio St., runner-up in the Big Ten tournament. BU, champion of the America East conference, rounds out the quartet.

“These teams [are all teams] we’re capable of beating,” Wang said. “We can beat ‘em.”

Wang’s confidence is not unfounded. Though the Crimson and Buckeyes have not shared time on the courts this season, Harvard defeated both the Wildcats, 4-3, and Terriers, 5-2 in February, when its lineup was still plagued by injury.

“We’ve been getting stronger with each match, both experience-wise and health-wise,” freshman Preethi Mukundan said. “I’m sure that will just continue to carry over into NCAAs.”

Now, healthy and playing up to the lofty expectations that were set out before the first ball was struck earlier this season, the Crimson hopes history will repeat itself.

To a certain extent, anyway.

Should the Crimson emerge as the foursome’s representative in the third round, the challenge that awaits should be just as familiar as the surroundings in Allston—a likely date with No. 2 Stanford, the 2003 national runner up, thus far undefeated in its bid for another shot at the title.

Of course, the Cardinal ended Harvard’s Cinderella run in the tournament last year with a 4-0 victory in Gainesville, Fla.

But for now, thoughts of Stanford and revenge two steps down the road will have to wait. The Crimson will strap on its dancing shoes when dates and times for the opening rounds are announced later today.

—Staff writer Timothy J. McGinn can be reached at mcginn@fas.harvard.edu.