Bulldogs, Bears Serve Crimson Pair of Late-Season Losses

Unfortunately for the Crimson, whether home or away, there was no response to the ferocity of the Bears and the Bulldogs.

As the Ivy League championship draws to a close, Harvard (2-15, 2-4 Ivy) suffered a narrow 4-3 loss at the hands of Brown (10-9, 2-5) at the Beren Tennis Center on Sunday, following a crushing 7-0 defeat against newly-minted champions Yale (11-8, 7-0) at New Haven on Friday. The results extend the Crimson’s losing streak against Ancient Eight teams to four games.

“We knew it was going to be a tough match with Brown,” said Harvard Head Coach Traci Green. “We’re pretty even this year lineup-wise, and they got the better of us today.”

Despite a difficult season for the Crimson, there were still positives to be found from the weekend’s performances. With junior No. 1 Beier Ko sidelined through illness on Sunday, players found themselves competing in a place higher than their usual position.

“We’ve done pretty well given the circumstances,” freshman Samantha Rosekrans said. “I think everybody did pretty well playing a spot up from what they normally play.”

BROWN 4, HARVARD 3

With both teams in the lower reaches of the Ivy League table, a closely-fought contest was anticipated yesterday. To the Crimson’s dismay, it was the Bears who clawed their way to victory, prevailing in a gritty 4-3 win.

“If we just had one more win we could have pulled it off,” said Rosekrans. “It was definitely a close match today.”

Brown seized the momentum by claiming the decisive doubles point. Comprehensive 8-6 victories at No. 1 and No. 2 consigned Harvard’s doubles aspirations to oblivion; a slender 9-7 Bears win at No. 3 provided the final nail in the coffin.

In order to overhaul its one point deficit, four wins in the singles was the bare necessity for the Crimson. Unfortunately for Harvard, Brown continued their stranglehold on the game with game-winning performances on the opposite ends of the courts. Heavy losses for the Crimson at No. 5 and No. 6—1-6, 0-6 and 4-6, 1-6 respectively—dented Harvard’s hopes for revival, while an absorbing encounter at No. 1 saw junior Laura Peterzan lose 5-7, 2-6 at the hands of in-form opponent Bianca Aboubakare.

With a Bears win a mathematical certainty, the Crimson sought consolation wins on the remaining courts. At No. 3, Schittner won her sixth singles match of the season 6-2, 7-6 (7-2), while at No. 2, Rosekrans continued her impressive form with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 win over Brown’s Sara Mansur. In a final flourish, Stewart emerged victorious, 6-1, 7-6 (11-9), to make the overall score respectable from a Crimson perspective.

“I don’t think we played our best tennis today,” Green said. “I thought it was a little bit below our ability, but I think, competition-wise, that’s where we have to improve.”

YALE 7, HARVARD 0

Irrespective of traditional rivalries, Friday’s game had Ivy League repercussions. And with a chance to win their first ever NCAA berth and a first Ancient Eight title since 1981, the Bulldogs were hardly in a charitable mood against their Crimson counterparts, triumphing 7-0.

“Yale’s a good team, and they’re definitely hard to beat,” Green said. “They have a lot of strong freshmen who came in this year, and we definitely competed well in that match.”

In a game of few positives for Harvard, No. 3 doubles duo Schnitter and Stewart recorded a rare Crimson highlight of the day in an 8-6 win. In the singles, battling Crimson performances could not prevent Yale extending its dominance; at No. 3, Rosekrans lost her first Ivy League match 6-1, 4-6, 6-3, while Ko fell at No. 1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3. Similarly, in a dramatic third set tiebreaker, No. 5 Stewart lost 6-1, 6-7, 6-7 (7-10) to compound Harvard’s misery.

The weekend’s results notwithstanding, the overall improvement in play witnessed this season provides cause for optimism.

“Everybody’s developing in different ways on this team,” Green said. “We had a really hard schedule this year, and it’s hard to see how we’ve developed based on the wins and losses, but each and every person on the team has improved.”

As always with the Crimson this season, development remains the key priority.

“Every day’s a new day with our team, we’re trying to improve every match, and take each match as it comes,” Green said.