The women's tennis team continued its winning ways as it edged bitter rival Tufts, 5-4, yesterday in Medford.

In its first dual meet of the season, Harvard dominated the singles play, capturing five of the six matches to clinch the win.

Tiina Bougas, a doubtful starter because of illness, made her opponent sick as she demolished Ellen Jacobs, 6-2, 6-0, in the number one singles.

Captain Meg Meyer stunned Michele Rosen with a variety of shots to take the second singles, 6-0, 6-4.

Making spectacular use of her overhead smash and strong net game, Martha Roberts captured the third slot, bettering Laura Weissman, 6-4, 7-6, in what turned out to be the decisive match for the Crimson.

Playing at the fifth spot, Atlanta native Debbie Kalish left her southern hospitality at home as she hammered Eileen Zucker with her serve and volley game to take that match, 6-2, 6-2. Kris Mertz closed out the scoring, overpowering Pam Esserin, 7-6, 6-0, with her strong serve in the sixth singles.

Playing at the four spot, Abbie Meiselman ran up against a brick wall, losing, 2-6, 4-6, to Wendy Shahon, as the Jumbo returned everything batted at her with boring consistency.

The Crimson doubles teams also had little luck. Lisa Schneider and Ronnie Sebok played valiantly but lost in close sets, 6-7, 5-7. Patty Vitale and Deidre Wilde faltered in the second doubles, losing, 3-6, 5-7, while Jackie Corrigan and Miki Kagan lost their third doubles match, 2-6, 4-6.

The emotional nature of the Harvard-Tufts rivalry was underscored as the Crimson prepared to return to Cambridge. In an exceedingly shocking display of poor taste combined with poor sportsmanship, the Tuft's coach, armed with his own copy of "How to Play Dirty Tennis," congratulated the women for their victory, but questioned the ethical standards of the team. Several Tufts players have lost matches to Harvard in the tournaments held this fall.

The victory avenges last year's defeat to Tufts by the same score.