The Harvard women's tennis team escaped the cold and drizzle of New England this past holiday weekend for trysts with two of the southwestern region's big enchiladas, Arizona State and UNLV.

As it turned out, the weekend provided sun, but not so much fun. The Crimson (1-3) dropped both its matches, following up a 5-2 loss to the Runnin' Rebels on Sunday with a 7-0 shutout at the hands of the No. 10 Sun Devils on Monday.

It was not exactly how the west was won. But going up against such a high level of competition may yet prove beneficial to Harvard as it prepares to kick its spring season into full gear.

"It was our first real outdoor competition," sophomore Lara Naqushbandi said. "Both teams were pretty strong. We didn't win but it was pretty good outside experience."

Harvard, who entered the weekend ranked No. 70 in the country, was once again not at full health. Sophomore Sanja Bajin, the Crimson's No. 1 singles player and all-Ivy selection one year ago, did not compete individually against either ASU or UNLV because of injury.

Bajin did decide to team with senior Sanaz Ghazal in a doubles heat against UNLV on Sunday. The duo fell, however, to the team of No. 76 Paulina Janus and No. 79 Agnieszka Abram by an 8-4 margin.

The Crimson, incidentally, did not capture a single doubles match all weekend.

Janus and Abram also made quick work of Harvard in singles play at the No. 1 and 2 spots, respectively. With Bajin sidelined, Ghazal played at No. 1 singles for Harvard, but she was no match for Janus, who prevailed 6-3, 6-1. Junior Fleur Broughton could not fare any better for Harvard, falling 6-0, 6-2 in the second singles spot.