Women's Tennis Ivy Title Hopes Hindered with Loss at Princeton

After losing a close, 4-3, decision to Princeton (11-6, 2-2 Ivy) on Saturday, the Harvard women’s tennis team (10-6, 2-2) rebounded with a dramatic 4-3 win over Penn (10-6, 2-2) on Sunday that went down to a final third-set tiebreaker.

Freshman Hai-Li Kong said that, although the team brought intensity to every non-conference match, in Ivy League play, the magnitude of each point and game is ratcheted up another level.

“In Ivy League play, we definitely all want it more,” Kong said. “I definitely feel like there is more meaning to our matches. Before, of course, we wanted to win, but now we want to win for our seniors and also for the Ivy League title. It’s an extra goal to aspire to.”

HARVARD 4, PENN 3

After losing the doubles point for the second time in as many matches, Harvard won three of the first five singles matches to knot up the contest. The last match came down to the wire. Trailing 3-5 in the third set, sophomore Sylvia Li rallied to break her opponent and forced a tiebreaker that she won, 7-5, to give the Crimson the victory.

“The team did a really good job of fighting this weekend,” freshman Amanda Lin said. “We were really optimistic, especially since we are just coming back from a disappointing loss last weekend against Columbia. Everybody played their hardest these past two days and left everything out on the court.”

In doubles action, co-captains Hideko Tachibana and Kristin Norton were defeated at line one, 8-3, and despite the efforts of Kong and junior Hannah Morrill—who won an 8-2 decision at line three—the team lost the doubles point when freshman Amy He and Lin fell, 8-4, to their Quaker opponents.

The Crimson got momentum back with quick victories in singles, as Lin rallied from a set down against Penn’s Srindhi Raghavan to take a three-set victory at line six. It was Lin’s 12th victory in a row for Harvard. She leads the team both in wins and winning percentage. He righted the ship after dropping the deciding match on Saturday, winning in straight sets. Kong completed the freshman sweep with a victory at line four, handing her opponent a 6-0 bagel to begin the match and finishing her off in a closer, 7-6(7-2), second set.

Up 3-1, Harvard could not close out the match as Tachibana and Norton lost third sets, each 6-1, to even up the match at three. Tachibana fought back from a set down to grab the second, 6-4, but fell to 8-7 on the season with the loss. Then, for the second day in a row, the match was left in the hands of Li—who converted a third set after squandering the same opportunity the day before and giving the Crimson a win.

PRINCETON 4, HARVARD 3

Harvard’s close loss to begin the weekend dropped it to 1-2 in the Ancient Eight. After losing the doubles point, the Crimson took the first three singles matches to put it on the brink of victory but lost two three-set matches—including the clincher—to drop the contest by the narrowest of margins.

Kong, who won her eighth-straight singles match for the Crimson on Saturday, said that even in losses, the team can take solace in the way that it competes day-in and day-out.

“I think we definitely fought hard,” Kong said. “I don’t think that our team does really bad on any day. Even when we lose, we are fighting and giving it our all.”

The team’s focus on doubles during practice had yielded good results in previous matches, with Harvard winning the doubles point in eight of the previous nine matches coming in, but the team struggled and dropped the doubles point on Saturday. After Kong and Morrill got an early victory at the number three line, the Crimson lost the other two matches in quick succession.

In singles, quick wins by Norton, Kong, and Lin pushed Harvard to a 3-1 advantage. However, He dropped a one-set advantage at line two, falling to 9-3 on the season. Tachibana fell at line one, 6-2, 6-4, and the match was left to sophomore Li.

After losing the first set, 6-2, Li battled back to take a close second set, 6-4. However, in the third set, Li fell behind a break and lost it, 6-3, to drop the Crimson below .500 in the Ivy League.

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