"We expected a tough one, so we buckled down," Smith said. "We were very intense."
When finally put to the test, the Beast of the fast came out of its cave, bared its gleaming teeth, and attacked.
When Harvard meets Princeton Wednesday on Beren Courts, it will meet up with living testimony of how a champion has been knocked off.
Before Harvard took over last year as the team to beat in Ivy League tennis, the Tigers had captured at least a share of the title three out of the four years from 1980-83.
The Crimson, in fact, has only beaten Princeton twice in the league's five- year history.
"Beating Princeton is still a novelty," Smith said. "They're traditionally a very tough team."
"We're all going to go out there and say we're not going to share thus (title) with anyone," Smith said.