CHESTNUT HILL--Taking advantage of a depleted Crimson lineup, the Boston College women's tennis team crushed Harvard, 7-2, yesterday at the Eagle Tennis Complex.

Harvard Coach Ed Krass didn't hesitate to point out why Harvard (2-0 Ivy, 6-5 overall) dropped its first match to B.C. in a decade. All he had to do was notice the two missing spaces on the bench usually reserved for top-seeded Cristina Dragomirescu and fifth-singles Co-Captain Nicole Rival.

"If you lose one player, you lose two points of the game," Krass said. "Needing five points to win, one player can cost you 40 percent of the match."

"And then, you have to scramble to find depth," Krass added. "Psychologically, there's a lack of the comfort factor, when you're using certain players that haven't been to the well in terms of competition."

Dragomirescu or not, the Eagles (11-13 overall) overpowered a Harvard squad which lacked the gangbuster intensity that pulverized ninth-ranked Pepperdine in late March.

deLone Shark

Amy deLone arguably fought the sharpest battle but came up short in her three-set struggle against the Jennifer "No Pain" Lane, the fourth-ranked player in the East.

The Eagles' Pam Piorkowski--the region's fifth-ranked player--then downed a torrid Jamie Henikoff in an atypical 6-2, 6-4 victory in second singles.

"I just didn't play well," Henikoff said.

Boston College's Michelle Chua followed in third singles, bouncing Jen Minkus in straight sets, 6-1, 6-4.

With B.C. leading 3-0, Eagle Kate Sullivan widened the gap in a straight-set defeat of freshman Melinda Wang.

"Katie has been playing out of her mind," B.C. Coach Mark Burns said.

Freshman Erika Elmuts momentarily rescued the Crimson--one match away from burial at this juncture--as she ravaged Regina Fagan in straight sets.

Tricia Small kept Harvard alive in a three-set drubbing of Angie Gabbatt. After dropping the first set by a 7-6 count, Small rebounded to impale Gabbatt--surrendering just one game to the Eagle in the final two sets.

Doubles Decimation