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Harvard women's tennis (11-8, 3-0 Ivy) continued to triumph in Ivy League play following its recent 4-3 win over Dartmouth, beating both Princeton (7-10, 0-3 Ivy), and the University of Pennsylvania (9-8, 2-1 Ivy) in decisive (4-2) and (4-0) victories, respectively.
Upsetting the Tigers
Harvard got off to a strong start, with good performances in doubles from the team. Each pair displayed great use of the net and excellent shot placement.
Doubles No. 1 senior Holly Fischer and sophomore Stephanie Yakoff finished their set 6-3, with senior captains Angel You and Rachel Arbitman following suit with a 6-4 win, securing the doubles point for Harvard.
You said winning the doubles point is needed to “set the tone for the match and come out swinging,” which is vital for success going forward.
Competition became stiffer in singles, however, with the Tigers offering more of a challenge to the Crimson throughout the first set.
No. 1 Fischer began with an early lead in games, but Princeton closed the gap and increased aggression. Fischer dropped her lead to Princeton’s Ferlito, but fought back through maintaining strong baseline game, and bringing her set back to a 7-5 win.
This was mirrored by No. 5 senior Maxi Duncan also dominating her Princeton opponent early on. She was able to secure her first set with 6-4, setting a positive tone for the rest of her match.
Sophomore Kavya Karra faced difficulty at the No. 6 spot, as she attempted to match the aggression of her Tiger competition, Tsehay Driscoll, but ultimately was not able to earn more than three games in the set.
Junior Charlotte Owensby felt similar pressure at No. 3, where Eva Elbaz of Princeton did not lighten up her attack on the singles player. Owensby had a less aggressive response, resulting in a 2-6 loss of her first set.
Both sophomore Kate Kim and Yakoff had longer sets, with extended rallies and evenly matched gameplay. They persisted through these long points, and both won their sets 6-3, and 6-4 respectively.
Moving into the second set, the Crimson felt a renewed sense of fire.
Duncan and Fischer once again took early 4-0 leads on their opponents, and Duncan, through consistent shot placement, was able to earn the Crimson their first singles point with a 6-1 win.
Princeton, however, took the second set on court six, earning the Tigers their first singles point.
Owensby approached her second set with a new intensity. Not only matching Princeton’s aggression, but raising it with excellent cross court shots that her opponent could scarcely get to. These shots led to multiple incorrect line calls by Elbaz, who faced a point penalty.
Owensby kept up this gameplay until a tie break, where she and the Tiger traded point for point until ultimately losing the set 7-6 in a neck-and-neck competition for points.
The drop of this singles point meant that the Crimson and the Tigers were tied 2-2, with three singles matches still playing.
Yakoff went into her second set with a confident approach, choosing to vary her gameplay from lobs to aggressive forehands, keeping her opponent on her toes.
Side by side was Fischer, whose opponent had closed her lead and gained four games. Despite this, the senior continued to fire strong shots that couldn’t be returned, and finished her set with a score of 6-4.
This additional singles point put the Crimson one away from winning the match, and it could come from either Yakoff or Kim taking their sets.
Yakoff noted in a text that when “stakes are extremely high,” “we can’t take our foot off the gas”.
Yakoff put this into action as she rose to the pressure placed on her by both her opponent and the scoreboard. At 5-3, match point, Yakoff hit a cross court shot that her opponent was unable to successfully return. Yakoff dominantly called the ball out, and the Crimson swarmed the courts in victory.
This win was extra special according to You, who said “in my four years of being at Harvard, this is our first time beating Princeton.”
UPenn Shutout
The Crimson reentered the second match of this weekend on the tails of their previous win.
The teams stayed the same as the day prior, and doubles No.2 Duncan and Karra took an immediately strong lead on their UPenn opponents. Not dropping a single game, the duo displayed great use of the court and took the set 6-0.
Doubles No. 1, Yakoff and Fischer, and No. 3, You and Arbitman, had more difficulty gaining an edge over the Quakers, each team earning and dropping their lead early on due to unforced errors.
While You and Arbitman continued to trade errors with their opponents, ending in a 3-6 set, Fischer and Yakoff displayed great baseline aggression and crucial net plays, rewarding them with an eventual 6-4 win.
Entering singles, Harvard yet again had a one point advantage on the competition.
On the second and third courts, Yakoff and Owensby also lead off strong with 6-2, 6-3 sets, the result of excellent shot placement, frustrating their UPenn opponents.
No. 6 Karra also swept her first set, earning her a second 6-0 score that day.
Duncan continued her display of skill this weekend by building a solid and steady lead that ended in a 6-4 first set.
Fischer, who started down games in the beginning, matched her opponent shot for shot until she climbed back out in the lead with a 6-4 win — including a medical break she took for her arm.
Even with a set drop from Kim, who toughed out a 4-6 loss, the Crimson was in a good position entering the second set.
Despite Harvard’s lead, Penn seemed to find their fight once again — beginning the next round of sets with increased intensity.
Yakoff found herself playing a more difficult second set, where her opponent made good use of the court, forcing more errors from the sophomore. Yakoff returned the aggression, which led to much closer games, and a few heated exchanges from line calls.
Despite the chaos from this contention, Yakoff wrote that “focusing on my side of the court and making sure that I’m doing everything right” was the key to not letting anything distract her.
Karra was also unable to keep the exact momentum from her first set, and ended up staying level with her opponent, tying up at 5-5.
Duncan continued to remain steady in her gameplay, and for the second time was able to claim the first singles point for the Crimson with a dominant 6-1 set, showing that her consistency paid off.
Owensby, who also struggled to take a lead in her second set, used a series of well placed slices and close line shots to earn her 7-5 win, which secured the second of the singles points.
Kim also came back to grind out a 6-2 win through pure grit, splitting her sets, and representing Harvard’s unwillingness to give up their lead.
With Karra and Fischer both having close scores, it seemed uncertain whether the match would come down to third sets.
However, both Karra and Fischer both seem to focus on taking the games point by point, both allowing them to build a small lead.
In situations like these, Yakoff affirms that “it’s super important to take matches like these point by point, because everyone is fighting for every single ball.”
On court six, pure silence descended across the courts as Karra served the match point. When her opponent returned, she placed the ball in a spot the Penn player could not reach, winning 7-5, and securing the match for Harvard 4-0.
This, being the second of the Crimson’s wins this weekend, is “so important for boosting our confidence.” You said.
Yakoff also agreed that “We knew what we had to do, and we crushed it.”
The Crimson will meet Brown next week in Providence, where You promised the team will “keep putting in that effort, keep pushing and just fighting together” to continue their success.
—Staff writer Bianca M. Egan can be reached at bianca.egan@thecrimson.com.
