The bottom of Harvard's lineup struggled as Pepperdine took the fourth-, fifth-and sixth-place matches. However, the top of the order picked up the slack. At No. 1, Blake shook off any of the cobwebs that had formed during a week of limited practice and pasted No. 37 Gullet, 6-4, 6-3.

Majmudar, who had returned to Cambridge after the Gaucho Classic to work on his thesis instead of practicing with the team, rejoined the team in California and earned a 6-4, 7-6 (5) victory at No. 3 singles.

"I had a couple of match points at 5-4 in the second but played stupid points," Majmudar said. "Yesterday was another tough day, but the match with Boise helped us deal with the conditions. We handled it well this time."

Majmudar's win put the Crimson ahead 3-2 in the team match, and the deciding match came at No. 2. Junior John Doran had moved up to the second slot for the Crimson on the trip West and proved more than ready for the challenge. After dropping the first set, 7-5, to Graff, Doran came back in the second, forcing a tiebreaker, which he won 7-5. Doran kept getting stronger as the match wore on and steamrolled his opponent 6-1 in the third set to win the match for Harvard, 4-3.

In an ironic twist, the biggest disappointment of the trip, the 4-3 loss to Boise State in the quarterfinals of the Gaucho Classic, may have made the road defeat of Pepperdine possible. The Crimson had handled Boise State easily the week before, but the weather proved to be a significant equalizer. The skies were blue, but the wind was screaming, and the Crimson was not prepared.

Rain the previous day had created a backlog in the draw, so matches were halted as soon as one team reached the deciding fourth point.

The match opened with singles in an effort to reach that magic number as quickly as possible (three doubles matches result in only one point), and the Crimson started slow.

Clark dropped the No. 6 match in straight sets to put the Broncos up, but-Doran showed that he was prepared to perform in the second singles position by evening things with a 6-2, 6-2 win. At No. 4, co-captain Mike Passarella lost in straight sets, 7-5. 6-2.

At third singles, Majmudar displayed the learning curve that the Crimson would need to find success in the weather. The senior dropped the first set in unimpressive fashion, 6-1.

"The weather was the biggest thing, it was very windy," Majmudar said. "We were not used to it, especially the day after we arrived. I was playing as if there were optimal conditions. As I got used to it, I got more patient. You can't win points quickly in those circumstances."