Harvard Wins Only Game of West Coast Trip

In the Harvard women’s tennis team’s match against the University of San Francisco on Thursday afternoon, junior co-captain Holly Cao found herself in an unfamiliar situation: She was tied with her opponent, junior Julia Wartenburger, after dropping the second set.

No. 67 Cao held an 8-0 singles record at the No. 1 spot coming into the match at Golden Gate Park. The last time Cao split her first two sets was on Feb. 5 against Boston College.

Yet Cao wasn’t fazed, fighting back to win the third set and the match, 6-3, 6-2, 6-1, to maintain her undefeated singles record.

“We all know she’s a fighter,” Crimson coach Traci Green said.

Cao’s victory at No. 1 singles was just one of the highlights of the afternoon, as No. 51 Harvard (5-6) earned a convincing 6-1 victory over the Dons (1-11) during a rainy week in California.

“Given the circumstances, we had a pretty productive spring break,” Cao said. “Everyone adjusted to the weather pretty well.”

The Crimson picked up the No. 2 and No. 3 singles matches in straight sets, as sophomore Hideko Tachibana defeated freshman Cecile Duriez, 6-3, 7-5, and sophomore Kristin Norton defeated sophomore Yurie Hashiguchi, 6-1, 6-2.

Harvard’s only loss of the afternoon came at the No. 4 spot, where junior Samantha Gridley dropped her match to senior Cecilia Gratian, 6-4, 6-0.

But Green was especially proud of freshmen Natalie Blosser and Hannah Morrill, who both prevailed after splitting their first two sets at the No. 5 and No. 6 spots, respectively. The Crimson coach noted how both freshmen were able to find ways to win when their backs were against the wall.

Despite facing junior Alana McMahon, who Green described as “a streaky and fast opponent,” Morrill was able to come away with the win, 6-4, 2-6, 10-7.

Blosser, who was shut-out in the first set, was able to rebound and pull out a victory over senior Jessy Mekpoh, 6-0, 6-4, 10-5.

“Natalie made some adjustments in her game, and she was able to pull off the victory,” Green said.

The Crimson won five of the six singles matches, and it had just as much success in its doubles matches, sweeping all three contests over San Francisco.

Tachibana and Norton played No. 1 doubles, downing Duriez and Hashiguchi, 8-1. Cao and Morrill played together at the No. 2 spot, beating Gratian and Wartenburger, 8-5. Rounding out the doubles matches at the No. 3 spot were co-captain Samantha Rosenkrans and Blosser, who defeated junior Andrea Gaitan and sophomore Melinda Akerbrant, 8-1.

Despite the success of the week, Harvard still had to fight against a few lingering injuries and the rainy weather on the West Coast.

“We were not able to play as much as we wanted to outdoors because of the rain,” Cao said.

In fact, the Crimson had three contests scheduled for its trip to California, but its matches on Tuesday against No. 7 California and on Friday against No. 48 St. Mary’s were both cancelled due to inclement weather.

The match against the Golden Bears would have been a rare opportunity for Harvard to play a highly-ranked opponent.

“That would have been a great match for us and a wonderful building block for the Ivy season,” Green said.

While there was disappointment due to the cancelled matches, the Crimson was able to get in a lot of practice, fitness, and conditioning while it was on the road. Harvard looks forward to returning to the East Coast as it prepares for its next matches at Virginia Commonwealth on March 27 and at Ancient Eight foe Cornell on April 1.

“We’re gaining more and more confidence as we head into the Ivy season,” Green said.