No. 44 Harvard Conjures Up Comeback

In the first match of the spring season, No. 44 Harvard women’s tennis came from behind to defeat Boston University, 5-2.

“For the first match of the year, it was so exciting,” Crimson coach Traci Green said. “They mustered up all their strength and fought as a team and won as a team today.”

Harvard fell behind early, only winning one of the three doubles sets to fall behind, 1-0.

Early in the singles matches, the Crimson lost another point when co-captain Samantha Rosekrans had to retire due to tendonitis in her knees after falling behind on the No. 4 court, 5-2.

Having to win four of the remaining five matches, Harvard pushed itself into high gear.

“I’m so proud of our team the way we showed so much natural determination to pull through in the singles,” Green said.

Junior Samantha Gridley, who went 6-1 in the fall, continued her success with a 6-0, 6-0 victory on the No. 6 court to give the Crimson its first point.

“I pulled out two good wins in the fall...that gave me a lot of confidence coming into the spring,” Gridley said. “Knowing that I could pull out those close matches motivated me to work really hard, especially on my fitness, over winter break...When I came to practice for J-Term, I was really physically ready to go and focus on staying more mentally tough.”

Norton soon followed her teammate’s lead, making quick work of Monika Mical, 6-4, 6-2.

“Kristen played with so much emotion out there today,” Green said.

On the No. 5 court, freshman Natalie Blosser handled her first dual match well, winning the first set 6-0. When the second set was tied 5-5, she broke her opponent’s serve at deuce to lead to a 7-5 final score and give Harvard a 3-2 advantage in the contest.

“Natalie had a great performance for a freshman,” Green said. “She came out and played like a sophomore.”

In a rematch of last year’s top match-up between these squads, junior co-captain Holly Cao, ranked No. 45 in the country, faced off against the Terriers’ Stefanie Nunic. Cao fell behind 4-1 early, but she then mounted a comeback to win 11 of the next 13 games to take the match, 6-4, 6-2, and give the Crimson the clinching point.

“I had a slow start,” Cao said. “[Nunic] played well in the first set, but I managed to fight back and win. When it got to the stage when it was 4-1, I looked across the scoreline, and it was all pretty tight. I didn’t want to be the first one to finish the set, so I decided I should stage a comeback.”

“When the chips are down, you can always depend on Holly,” Green said. “Holly doesn’t play the last ball; she always looks to the future. So I’m sure she kept looking ahead in the match and that gave her strength to stay positive and look for that next point.”

In the final remaining match on court No. 2, sophomore Hideko Tachibana lost her first set to BU’s Vivien Laszloffy, 6-4. In the second set, Tachibana turned her game around and pulled ahead, 3-1, thanks to a powerful cross-court backhand volley to break Laszloffy’s serve. She continued on to win the set, 6-2, and the super tiebreak, 10-5, to give Harvard its fifth point.

“Hideko’s match was definitely electric,” Green said. “The crowd was getting into it, and she was so pumped. She’s really a special player and special person. We’re very fortunate to have her on our team.”

“I was running really well today; footwork [was the key],” Tachibana said. “I think this was a really good start to our season. The momentum is going the right way. We have the confidence now.”

—Staff writer Eric L. Michel can be reached at emichel@fas.harvard.edu.