Netwomen Fly, 7-2

The Harvard women's tennis team tamed the Princeton Tigers in Princeton, N.J., on Wednesday, 7-2, to boost its Ivy record to 7-0.

Harvard Coach Don Usher's 70th career win made the Crimson the sole Ivy League Champions and gave the netwomen an automatic bid to the NCAAs.

"We were in better condition and it showed," said Harvard's Kathy Vigna. "There were a lot of three set matches, and they just fell apart."

Vigna needed only two sets to torch Tiger Hilary Shane, 6-2, 6-3.

The netwomen were not so fortunate in the second and third slots. Freshman Cindy Buchsbaum fell to Emily Shute in the first set, 6-3. The second set was a repeat performance, with Shute again coming out on top, 6-3.

Harvard's Erika Smith easily took the first set from Tiger Herani Meghani, 6-3. Meghani clawed her way back from a one set deficit, however, with a 6-1 thrashing of Smith in the middle set and put Princeton on the scoreboard with a 6-4 victory in the third.

Battle

The Crimson's depth proved invaluable, and not for the first time this season. Kristin Boss battled Princeton's Sue Palmentieri, but came up short in the first set, 5-7. Rebounding from the close clash, Boss routed Palmentieri, 6-3, 6-1.

Aditi Viswanathan posed little problem for Harvard's fifth racquet. Cyndy Austrian. Austrian cruised by her Princeton counterpart, 6-0, 6-2.

Tiger Lisa Nyman came out roaring in the first set and upset Martha Berkman, 6-2. Berkman did some roaring of her own in the second and third sets, though, and triumphed, 6-1, 6-0.

Harvard's dynamic doubles duo of Smith and Vigna defeated Shane and Shute in the first set, 6-4. Shane and Shute turned things around in the second with a 6-2 victory, but were unable to carry the momentum over into the third. Smith and Vigna blanked Princeton in the third, 6-0.

Boss and Berkman prolonged Princeton's agony, taking Meghani and Simons to three sets. The Crimson claimed the first, 6-4, fell 2-6 in the second, and came back in the third, 6-4.

The third doubles followed a similar pattern. Austrian and Buchsbaum grabbed 6-3 victories in the first and third, and dropped the middle set, 5-7.

The Best of the East next swings racquets with the Best of the West in the first round of the NCAA tournament to be held May 15 in Austin, Texas. Harvard, as the tournament's 16th seed, will take on number one Stanford.