Harvard Splits Long Weekend Down South

After playing a string of indoor contests, the No. 18 Harvard women’s tennis team traveled to Georgia Tech two days early to prepare for some rare outdoor play. The early arrival paid off, as the Crimson (6-2) won its fifth straight match­—a 5-2 defeat of the No. 23 Yellow Jackets (5-1) on Sunday—without its injured co-captains. Unfortunately for Harvard, the streak ended a day later at the hands of No. 16 Clemson (4-4), in a tight 4-3 President’s Day decision.

“We went out and took care of business [against Ga. Tech],” singles No. 2 Celia Durkin, a freshman, said. “We performed well individually, which made for a great team result.”

Led by Durkin, singles No. 4 senior Alexis Martire, No. 5 junior Eva Wang and No. 6 junior Melissa Anderson, the Crimson claimed four of six singles matches without dropping a set. Harvard’s No. 1 doubles pair of sophomore Elsa O’Riain and freshman Stephanie Schnitter helped the team claim its fifth and final point with a thrilling 9-8 (3) tiebreaker. The No. 2 doubles team triumphed, 8-6, and the No. 3 pair fell to the Yellow Jackets by a score of 8-5.

Overall, the players were pleased with the Crimson’s performance, which was aided by two prior days of practice in Atlanta.

“We played well, and didn’t make a lot of errors,” Martire said.

“Everyone came out fresh and ready to play,” agreed co-captain Courtney Bergman, who, along with co-captain Susanna Lingman, sat out due to injury.

Bergman continues to miss action due to a nagging hip problem. Lingman sat due to a nagging hip problem. Lingman sat out because of an abdominal strain.

NO. 16 CLEMSON 4, NO. 18 HARVARD 3

Unfriendly weather conditions forced the Crimson inside on Monday, where the No. 16 Tigers won out, 4-3.

“It was a tough match,” Martire said. “The opponents played really well.”

Though the Crimson dominated the singles contests against Ga. Tech, it won only two of the six against the Tigers.

Harvard took the doubles point by winning with the No. 2 and No. 3 doubles pairs, 8-4 and 8-2, without much difficulty.

While unable to capture its sixth straight win, the team is still optimistic about the coming weeks—especially the week of March 4-5, which features home matches against powerhouses like No. 4 Northwestern and No. 9 North Carolina.

“This is a good situation to be in,” Durkin said. “[The loss] is a wake-up call and will motivate us for next weekend.”

It is likely that co-captains Bergman and Lingman will be back in the regular lineup after resting for two weeks.

“We’ll slowly but surely work our way back [for next weekend],” said Bergman. “I’m excited to get going.”