Styperek next dominated Illinois player Nathan Zeder in the quarterfinals. The straight set victory included a 6-0 second set and marked the first time Styperek had defeated his familiar rival.
"He was my doubles partner this summer, and I had never beaten him, "Styperek said. "I wanted to beat him really badly with this being a home match and everything."
The fast courts favored the more mobile Styperek, and the win earned the sophomore a semifinal matchup with another old acquaintance, Alabama's Graydon Oliver.
"He is also a friend of mine from Florida," Styperek said. "I played really well and jumped out to a 5-2 lead. Then I lost six straight games. Why? Who knows? I started rushing because I had never beaten him before."
In the end, the eventual champion Oliver hit his stride and come back to win 7-5, 6-4.
Styperek also showed his stuff in the doubles portion of the draw. The sophomore teamed up with freshman Cillie Swart for the first time and won the consolation draw right off the bat.
An 8-4 final victory over Princeton's team of Kleigerman and Shiv Vasisht closed things out. The Crimson duo had lost their opening-round match to eventual finalists Oliver and Chang of Alabama, 8-2.
"We got pretty destroyed in that first match," Styperek said. "They were a really good team, and we tried to match them shot for shot which didn't work."
The goal of the weekend was to provide experience for the middle of its lineup, but the Crimson got a little more than that. The success of the players created the added bonus of confidence heading into this weekend's ITA Fall Championship in Princeton.
"Those last two matches against Chang and Kleigerman gave me a lot of confidence heading into the weekend," Lee said.
Blake will be sitting the Princeton event out, having already earned national honors at the ITA All-Americans Championships. But for the rest of the squad, it is the last chance to earn national respect before the spring.
"There are no preseason rankings for teams, so this tournament is the last chance to solidify final fall rankings and to get wins towards individual rankings," said Harvard Assistant Coach Peter Mandeau.