The Harvard women's tennis team lost its first match of the spring season, 7-2, against Northwestern yesterday afternoon at the ITT.

Harvard's first big disappointment occurred early in the match, when firstranked Tiina Bougas lost, 6-3, 6-2, to errors."

Lord played an aggressive and consistent game, driving the ball deep and forcing Bougas onto the defensive. "What she did to me is what I usually try to do to my opponents." Bougas explained, visibly displeased with her performance.

Lord "really played well." Bougas conceded, adding that "I just made a lot of errors."

Despite the team's convincing loss, freshmen Maria Pe and Erica Schulman gave the small crowd something to cheer about by winning their singles matches.

Pe defeated Randi Rosen, 7-5, 6-2, in a hard-fought match of contrasting styles. Rosen continually hit deep, powerful drives loaded with heavy topspin, always trying for the winner.

Pe, on the other hand, kept Rosen offbalance by using underspin to take the pace off the ball and placing drop shots and volleys out of Rosen's reach. Consistently returning drives from the baseline. Pe seemed content to wait for Rosen to make mistakes.

"I really wasn't playing my own game," Rosen said. Pe, shaking slightly, said she was "relieved."

Schulman defeated Cindy Brightfield, 7-5, 6-4, in one of the most evenly matched contests of the day. Schulman praised her opponent's return of service, but noted that Brightfield's other strokes were inconsistent.

In other singles matches, Harvard captain Martha Roberts lost, 6-3, 6-4, to Mary Boyer, Meg Meyer lost, 6-2, 6-1, to Becky Theim, and Abby Meiselman lost, 6-4, 6-1, to Carolyn Spengler.

In doubles, the team of Pe and Roberts lost, 6-4, 6-4, in a fast-paced match which pitted their close range volleying skills against those of Rosen and Lord. Schulman and Bougas, unable to control the net, lost, 7-6, 6-4, to Theim-Brightfield, and Meyer-Meiselman bowed, 6-2, 6-2, to Boyer-Spengler.

The match was "a good chance for us to have some warm-up competition" before leaving for a nine-day spring-break road trip to California, Roberts said. The Crimson will face Colorado, Washington. Michigan State, San Diego, Cal Polytech and Cal Santa Clara.

THE NOTEBOOK: In order to finance the trip, the team has been teaching a weekly tennis clinic. The racquetwomen also hope to raise money by holding a dance in late April. "You should see us swing," one member suggested.