The Harvard tennis team may not have brought home the big trophies, but it made a strong bid for being a national powerhouse this weekend.

The Crimson came close to winning it all.

Close, but no cigar.

Nevertheless, Harvard's racket wizards were on fire at the Rolex National Indoor championships in Minneapolis, Minn.--making their best showing since 1983--with freshman Erika DeLone and senior Mike Zimmerman falling only in the late rounds.

Women's team phenom DeLone charged through her draw before she was dispatched in the finals by long-time friend and national number-one Lisa Raymond.

Stanford freshman Raymond-- who is undefeated this year--took 74 minutes to beat DeLone 6-3, 6-3.

DeLone, who was not seeded in the tournament, advanced to the finals after beating Stanford's Laxmi Poruri in three grueling sets, 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-1).

Harvard Coach Dave Fish said he was extremely pleased with DeLone's performance.

"I thought it was great," Fish said. "She has shown she's capable of winning a national championship. It's a good start."

DeLone said Raymond's aggressiveness ensured her victory.

"She came into net much more than I did," DeLone explained. "She was much more aggressive and that was a deciding factor."

DeLone also said she was not playing at her best against Raymond after playing a number of tough matches to reach the finals.

"I thought it was a combination that she played extremely well and I didn't play to top of game," DeLone said. "After some close matches, I came out stiff and tired."

On the men's side, Zimmerman made it to the semifinals without losing a set, knocking off third-seeded Brian Macphie of USC and Rice's Steve Campbell along the way.

Zimmerman said the difference in his semifinal loss was simply that his opponent produced clutch shots on the big points' finals.