Women's Tennis Still Winless in Ivy Play

The Harvard women’s tennis team hosted Yale on Friday and traveled to Brown on Sunday in search of its first Ivy League wins of the season.

The search continues.

Despite singles victories from four different players, the Crimson (7-11, 0-6 Ivy) fell 4-3 to both the Bulldogs (9-10, 3-3) and the Bears (10-9, 3-3).

“Everyone fought hard and we came very close,” coach Traci Green said. “We keep tasting victory and I think we’re getting closer. We competed to the last point as hard as we could.”

BROWN 4, HARVARD 3

After a rare day off on Saturday, the Crimson traveled to Providence to take on Brown. Just as on Friday, the team fell one match short. The team has dropped six straight games in conference play.

Harvard lost the all-important doubles point to start the day. Sophomore June Lee and junior Amanda Lin fell but freshman Ellen Jang-Milsten and junior Amy He picked up their second consecutive doubles win, 8-5, to set up a showdown in the final doubles match of the day. With the match tied 6-6, Bears Alyza Benotto and Dayna Lord rallied to take the last two points and the victory over sophomore Monica Lin and freshman Annika Ringblom.

“I think we still really need to work on starting quicker and not having slow starts,” Lee said. “I think that’s one thing that a lot of the other teams have, right when they walk into the building, you feel a different energy.”

Freshman Ellen Jang-Milsten continued her hot streak in Ivy League play with a 6-3, 6-0 victory. The first-year has won each of her last three singles matches. Losses by Lee and sophomore Monica Lin gave the hosts a 3-1 lead they would not relinquish.

“Ellen is a very special player,” Green said. “She’s very mentally tough. She’s been really maturing over the last few months. It’s very nice to see her game start to come together and she’s reaped the benefit of all of her hard work.”

He won her second match of the day to get the Crimson within one match, but Benotto sealed the deal for the Bears with a three-set victory over Ringblom. Amanda Lin wrapped up a 6-2, 2-6, 6-2 victory over Brown junior Ammu Mandalap, but it was not enough as Harvard fell to the Bears for the first time since 2011.

YALE 4, HARVARD 3

Harvard fell short in its fifth straight Ivy League match, with Friday’s contest marking the closest the team has come to winning in conference play so far this season. The Crimson was able to pick up the doubles point but was outscored in singles action, 4-2.

Jang-Milsten led the way for Harvard on Friday, picking up singles and doubles victories over Yale. The Alpharetta, Ga., native took out Bulldogs sophomore Sherry Li in straight sets and teamed up with He to defeat Yale captain Hanna Yu and freshman Valerie Shklover, 8-1.

The Crimson was able to secure the doubles point after sophomore Monica Lin and first-year Annika Ringblom defeated the Bulldogs junior duo of Madeleine Hamilton and Ree Ree Li. Lee picked up Harvard’s other singles victory with a 2-6, 7-6, 7-5 come-from-behind win over Sherry Li. Lee’s victory came from the fouth slot, as she was the highest seed to notch a singles win for the Crimson. Jang-Milsten picked up her win from the fifth spot.

Also bouncing back from an injury was Kallenberg who missed both of last weekend’s matches. The freshman was back in the top spot for the Crimson but fell in straight sets to Yu and re-aggravated her injury.

Ringblom, the only Harvard singles player to pick up a victory against Princeton last weekend, fell on Friday to Ree Ree Li, 6-4, 6-4. Monica Lin, playing from the second spot, and Amanda Lin, the Crimson’s sixth singles player, both took their matches to three sets before eventually falling. This is the second year in a row that Harvard has lost to Yale and the fourth time in the last five years.

“There’s so much parity right now in the Ivy League, a lot of gridlock amongst the teams,” Green said. “Our team has shown a lot of improvement. It’s been tough to reap the rewards on the scoreboard but overall what we’re really proud of is the way our students are representing Harvard and fighting the whole season regardless of where we are in the standings.”

—Staff writer Stephen J. Gleason can be reached at sgleason@college.harvard.edu.