There is no doubt that the Harvard women's tennis team is the most dominant squad in all of the Ivy League. As for the region, well that is an entirely different story.

After breezing through its Ivy League schedule en route to a perfect 7-0 mark and sole possession of the league title, Harvard (18-7, 7-0 Ivy) could not continue its dominant ways into the NCAA Regional Tournament, as it was upset in the first round by unseeded Virginia Tech.

Record: 18-7, 7-0 Ivy

Coach: Gordon Graham

Highlights: Wins Ivy League with perfect 7-0 record against Ivy opponents; Wins ECAC Championship

Seniors: Gabriela Hricko, Vedica Jain, Rosemary She

That defeat, which brought the final curtain down on the Crimson's 1997-98 campaign, could not overshadow the team's success during the regular season, however.

A string of successful individual matches in the fall hinted at the depth and talent within the Harvard ranks. In mid-October at the Brown Invitational, the Crimson players routed competitors from around the country.

The unseeded Harvard tandem of senior Rosemary She and sophomore Vedica Jain enjoyed a surprise victory in the flight A doubles championship. In first-round action, the Crimson duo drew the top doubles pair from Wisconsin and battled to a hard-fought 8-6 win. Following that upset, She and Vain disposed of a Virginia team, 8-3, before ousting the team from Dartmouth in the finals, 8-6.

While teammate Ivy Wang--the Crimson's top singles player--was sidelined with an injury, co-captain Gabriela Hricko had success on the singles side with an impressive fourth-place finish which included a 6-3, 6-3 win over the tournament's top seed, Barb Privel of Boston College.

The Brown Invitational served as a momentum-builder heading into the all-important ECAC Championships one week later. The Crimson had no problem taking that title over the 16-team field.

"In most of the tourneys we played [in the fall], we did very well as individuals," Hricko said.

That fall season, however, was only a tune-up for the spring, where the Crimson would face its toughest schedule.

In February, Harvard began its run with a 9-0 crushing of Old Dominion and then a tight 5-4 victory over No. 48 North Carolina. Its trip to Tar Heel country ended on a sour note the next day, however, against Duke, the No. 3 team in the country.

Wang, playing in the top singles spot, was downed in straight sets by Blue Devil Vanessa Webb, the eventual 1998 NCAA singles champion. It all went downhill from there as the Crimson was unable to pull out a single victory in the match.