After suffering two tough losses at William and Mary and Virginia Commonwealth University, Harvard women's tennis coasted over Richmond, 7-2, in its first home match of the spring season at Palmer-Dixton Courts.

"This was a pretty tough match. We had a lot of close matches and a few tiebreakers," said sophomore Sanaz Ghazal. "The match could have easily gone either way, but we showed a lot of guts and toughed it out." RICHMOND  2 HARVARD  7

Harvard (1-4) is without its only senior player, captain Ivy Wang. Wang has been injured since the fall season, and is not expected to return this year.

In response, the Crimson has had to step it up a notch, relying on its depth to make up for the loss of Wang and its lack of upperclassmen.

In the No. 1 slot, Ghazal went up against Richmond's top player, Janelle Williams. Unfortunately, Ghazal was unable to score for the Crimson, falling to Williams in two close sets, 6-4, 6-3.

Junior Vedica Jain, the oldest active player on the Crimson, defeated Richmond's Elizabeth Cascarella in two tight sets, 7-6, 7-6, notching the first winning match for Harvard.

Freshmen Andrea Magyera and Fleur Broughton defeated both their opponents in three sets in matches that both featured tiebreakers.

Broughton, in perhaps the most exciting match of the day, battled back from a deficit of six match points to win 7-6 in the tiebreaker.

In the No. 5 spot, freshman Jennie Timoney defeated Richmond's Lindsay Woodworth in three sets. Quickly following suit, sophomore Roxanne Curto defeated Wesley Kohl easily in two sets.

The Crimson demonstrated its depth in doubles matches, winning won two of its three doubles. Curto and Sarah McGinty dropped their opponents in two close sets, 6-3 and 6-4.

Ghazal took revenge on Williams in the doubles matches, teaming up with Broughton to easily defeat Richmond, 8-4. Jain and Magyera dominated Richmond's Elizabeth Cascarella and Catherine Hawley, winning the match, 8-2.

"Our doubles this season are really solid," said Ghazal. "We put a lot of work in to our doubles strategy, so we felt really confident this weekend."

The Crimson is heading south this weekend, facing Mississippi and Vanderbuilt.

"Vanderbuilt is in the top ten in the country, and Mississippi is not far behind," Ghazal said. "We're always going to have some tough matches, so we just have to go out there and play well."