Women's Tennis Goes 2-1 Over the Break

After having a four-game winning streak snapped in a 4-3 loss to South Florida, the Harvard women’s tennis team (7-4) got back to its winning ways with a 7-0 victory over Farleigh Dickinson on Saturday. The victory capped off a solid spring break in which the Crimson won two of its three matches.

“In general, we played really well over the break,” co-captain Hideko Tachibana said. “It was a tough transition for our team because playing outdoors has a lot of different elements. We played a couple of really good teams, and I think we put up a really good fight.”

Over the course of the spring thus far, the Crimson has battled both injuries and sickness and struggled to field its optimal lineup. But according to Tachibana, injured athletes have also played an important role.

“I think that having everyone on the team has brought a lot of energy to the team overall,” Tachibana said. “It’s not like other sports where being on the sidelines you can’t play and are miserable; in tennis, it’s good [for the people on the court] to have the positive energy out there.”

HARVARD 7, FARLEIGH DICKINSON 0

Harvard finished its spring-break tour with a 7-0 victory over the Knights at the Murr Center. The Crimson lost only two games on the way to wins in the first and third line doubles matches, with freshman Amanda Lin and sophomore Sylvia Li blanking their opponents. In line one doubles, Tachibana and fellow co-captain Kristin Norton won, 8-2, to extend their unbeaten record in non-conference play.

In singles, Harvard won all but one match in straight sets. Junior Hannah Morrill did not cede a game to opponent Nicole Christ, claiming a 6-0, 6-0 victory at line five. In line one, Tachibana rebounded after losing her second set, 4-6, to take the final, 10-7. Overall, the Crimson won eight sets in which it lost two or fewer games.

SOUTH FLORIDA 4, HARVARD 3

Against South Florida, the Crimson struggled at the top of its singles lineup. While Harvard won the doubles points handily, with Li and Lin taking line three, 8-1, and Tachibana and Norton winning, 8-4, at the top line, the top four Crimson players lost their singles matches in straight sets.

At line five and line six, freshman Hai Li-Kong and Lin pulled out gritty three-set victories over their respective Bulls opponents. Lin lost the first set in a tiebreaker, 6-7 (6-8), but won the next two sets 6-4, 6-4. Kong won the first set, 6-3, and after falling in the second, 6-4, took the third when her opponent retired with Kong leading 2-0.

“Overall the team is handling big points a lot better,” coach Traci Green said. “Our doubles [play] has improved tremendously. I thought that there were good matches over the break. We got more experience that will help us heading into our last match of the season before the Ivy schedule starts.”

HARVARD 5, STETSON 2

Harvard began its spring break play with a 5-2 win over Stetson. The Crimson took every doubles match, losing six games in three matches. In singles, Harvard took two of three three-set matches played, with Tachibana and Kong taking third sets at the first and fourth lines, respectively. After losing the first set, 5-7, Kong lost only three games before topping Stetson’s Lindsey Cable in the next two sets, 6-3, 6-0. At line five, Lin defeated Jen Miller, 6-0, 6-3, and freshman Amy He clinched the victory with a, 6-1, 7-6, win in line three singles.

Tachibana said that the team, which finishes its nonconference schedule with a match on Mar. 30, will face a different set of challenges in Ancient Eight play.

The senior said that in conference play, with more familiar opponents, the atmosphere becomes more contentious between the Crimson and its foes.

“Ivy League matches are a lot more personal,” Tachibana said. “The fans are more belligerent and, overall, it’s on a whole other level. For the freshmen, its important to realize that it’s anybody’s game and talent-wise everyone is pretty much on the same level across the board. It will come down to who is fighting for the last point and who wants it more. The next match against Syracuse will be a good indicator, and the freshmen will be in for a good surprise come Ivy League play.”

—Staff writer David Freed can be reached at davidfreed@college.harvard.edu. Follow him on Twitter @DPFreed.