Final-Bound Singles Fail To Bring Home Titles

Close, but no cigar—so went the weekend for the Harvard women’s tennis team at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center Invitational in Flushing, N.Y. The Crimson sent three individuals to the finals of singles flights, but came away with no champions.

“I think the weekend was great for us,” Harvard coach Traci Green said. “Very solid and everyone competed well. We had a blast playing at the U.S. Open facility despite the windy and chilly conditions.”

In Flight C of the tournament, freshman Sophie Chang advanced to the finals, defeating three opponents before falling to No. 1 seed Stephanie Kent of Yale, 6-3, 6-4 in the championship. Over the weekend, Chang took down Blakely Ashley of Princeton, 6-2, 6-4 and then defeated Nadia Solomon-Burgess of Liberty in the quarterfinals. Against the No. 2 seed, Boston College’s Alex Kelleher, Chang emerged with a 6-3, 6-3 win.

In Flight D, freshman Alex Lehman cruised past Charlotte Ezratty of Penn and Carey Aboubakare of Brown in straight sets. In the semifinals, Lehman outlasted Joanna Zwirbulis of St. Johns, 4-6, 6-4, 10-7. In the championship, Dartmouth’s Jesse Adler ended Lehman’s run by a score of 6-4, 6-0.

Sophomore Samantha Gridley, in Flight F, was the third Harvard player to make the finals of her draw. She dropped her opponents in straight sets in her first three matches, setting up finals match against the No. 1 seed from Yale, Sarah Lederhandler. Gridley lost the match 6-2, 6-3.

“Of the three that made it to the finals, I would say they’re all tenacious players,” Green said. “They also pump themselves up and show a lot of emotion. That was a driving force for their results.”

In other singles action, freshman Kristin Norton earned a spot in the Flight A singles draw. She responded by defeating the tournament’s No. 1 seed, Bianca Aboubakare of Brown, 6-3, 6-4. In the next round, Norton fell to eventual champion Nicole Bartnik of Columbia, 6-3, 6-0. In the consolation draw, Norton rebounded with a 7-6, 4-6, 10-4 win.

In Flight B, junior captain Sam Rosekrans knocked out Jillian Santos from Binghampton with a 6-3, 6-4 victory. But, in the next round, No. 1 seed Casey Herzberg of Brown, eliminated Rosekrans.

“I think we’re all improving with each tournament,” Rosekrans said. “And we’re getting more confidence, especially since we had the Ivy League schools this weekend—sizing up the competition.”

Sophomore Louise Laciny in Flight G came out on the winning side of two three-set battles to start the tournament, but dropped a three-setter to the eventual champion in the quarterfinals.

In doubles, Norton paired with Rosekrans in Flight A.

The tandem won its first match 8-3 over a team from Liberty College. In the next round, the two fell to No. 3 seed Lenka Hojckova and Sandhya Nagaraj of NC State.

“[Norton and I] were pretty successful and we’ve only played together once before,” Rosekrans said. “We did a lot of formations and that worked well...we have a lot of fun on the court Kristin and I”

In Flight B, Chang and Lehman won their first match 8-5, but fell to a team from Dartmouth in the second round.

“We have a lot of freshman so [we’re] getting use to partnerships and that has been part of our transition this fall,” Green said. [Doubles] has improved tremendously since September.”

The Crimson play next at the ITA East Regional starting October 23.

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