First Victory Remains Elusive Heading into Ivy League Season

For being winless, Harvard women’s tennis sure is confident going into the Ivy League season. The Crimson (0-12) had trouble staying healthy all year, but now that most of its players are back at full steam, Harvard looks like it might make some noise in the next few weeks.

The strength of the Crimson’s preseason schedule will serve as great preparation for league play. In 12 matches, Harvard played eight ranked squads.

“We’ve played incredibly tough teams,” captain Stephanie Schnitter said. “We played the No. 1 team in the nation and a bunch in the top 20. If you can hang with them, you can hang with anyone. I think we have a great Ivy season ahead.”

Over spring break, the Crimson ended its preseason with three losses to strong California competition. Despite the disappointing final results, Harvard looked good in its 6-1 loss to the No. 18 Pepperdine Waves (14-4) on March 27 and its 5-2 defeat at the hands of the No. 16 Fresno State Bulldogs (10-6) on Saturday.

“We have a much higher confidence,” Harvard coach Traci Green said. “It always feels great to take matches off a high level program.”

In the first match of the break, the Crimson couldn’t get things rolling against the San Diego State Aztecs (7-9, 0-2 Mountain West) and fell 6-1 on March 25.

When the team wasn’t playing tennis, Harvard utilized the California sun and some time off to recover from illness and injury.

“Everybody is all healthy,” Green said. “We got what we wanted, and now we’re ready for Ivies.”

FRESNO STATE 5, HARVARD 2

The Bulldogs swept the doubles portion and then won four singles matches in straight sets to take the overall match win. The Crimson, however, got two inspired performances from Schnitter and junior Catriona Stewart in singles.

“It’s been great because different people have been stepping up for us,” Green said. “We’ll be playing lower ranked teams and we’ll hopefully have everyone step up and pull out some Ivy victories.”

Stewart downed her opponent 6-4, 5-7, 10-6 at No. 5 singles and Schnitter won 6-2, 6-7 (8), 10-5 at No. 4. Schnitter led Harvard with two singles victories last week.

“I think each match it got a little bit better,” Schnitter said. “It was good for us to come out here and get some sun. I think we’re ready to go.”

PEPPERDINE 6, HARVARD 1

The Crimson came to play against a very talented Waves squad. Though the scoreboard made the match seem like a blowout, the contest was much closer. Three singles matches were lost in three sets.

At No. 1, junior Beier Ko fell 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 and in the No. 3 position freshman Samantha Rosekrans lost 6-1, 4-6, 6-3. In search of her second singles win of the dual-match season, Stewart suffered a 6-1, 6-7, 6-1 defeat at No. 5.

“We were totally hanging in there with them,” Schnitter said. “The two ranked teams were very spirited, but we definitely rose to the occasion and matched them.”

Schnitter won the only match of the day 6-3, 6-4 in the No. 4 slot.

Despite the loss, Harvard was proud of its performance.

“We were right there,” Schnitter said. “That gives us some good momentum going into Ivies and it gives us a lot of confidence.”

In doubles, junior Laura Peterzan and Schnitter pulled off an impressive 9-7 win in the No. 1 position. The Crimson, however, collapsed easily in the other two doubles sets.

SAN DIEGO STATE 6, HARVARD 1

The Aztecs were too much for Harvard. San Diego State snatched the doubles point with a three-set sweep and then went on to win four singles contests in straight sets.

In the doubles portion, Sissie Nielson and Eliska Krausova slammed the Crimson’s No. 1 duo of Schnitter and Peterzan, 8-0. At No. 3, Stewart and senior Vilsa Curto—who is also a former Crimson photography executive—challenged for the win but fell 8-7.

Harvard, which has struggled with doubles this season, will use this upcoming week to work on strategy.

“We got to do a lot of doubles stuff and work on routine shots and staying aggressive,” Green said.

In singles, the Crimson only challenged the Aztecs in three matches. At No. 2, Peterzan lost 6-4, 7-5, and in the No. 4 slot, Schnitter suffered a 4-6, 7-5, 10-5 defeat.

The lone win of the day came from Ko, who easily took down Holly Bagshaw 6-3, 6-1 in the No. 1 spot. Ko is currently ranked No. 78 in the nation.

Harvard looks to build on its efforts over break and earn its first win when the Ivy League season opens this weekend against Cornell and Columbia.

—Staff writer Jake I. Fisher can be reached at jifisher@fas.harvard.edu.