Despite a valiant effort on Saturday afternoon, the Harvard women's tennis team just couldn't cut the mustard.

No. 21 Fresno St. (23-6) dispatched the Crimson (11-12, 7-0 Ivy) in the first round of the NCAA tournament this weekend, winning the team competition by a score of 7-2.

On a very windy day, Harvard found itself with its back against the wall from the outset, as all of the Crimson's singles competitors lost their first sets. Fresno St. continued to apply the pressure, as it finished off four of the six Harvard competitors.

At the No.1 slot, captain Ivy Wang--battling a shoulder injury that has kept her on the sideline for most of the season-- fought hard against her Fresno St. counterpart, Dora Djilianova, the No. 6 ranked player in the nation. After dropping the first set, Wang forced a tiebreaker in the second, before dropping the contest.

Freshman Andrea Magyera and junior Roxanna Curto--playing in the No. 3 and No. 6 spots, respectively--also battled before succumbing in straight sets.

Sophomore Sanaz Ghazal, at No. 4, forced her opponent to the limit. Ghazal clawed back to win the second set after dropping the first, before finally falling in three.

The Crimson, however, would not quit. Junior Vedica Jain, playing in the No. 2 position, battled back from her one-set deficit, to take the second and third frames, putting Harvard on the board.

The Crimson was able to pull out another win in the singles portion of the meet, with freshman Fleur Broughton--playing at No. 5--also pulling out a three-set victory, keeping Harvard alive heading into the doubles portion of the meet.

In her win, Broughton showed a flair for the dramatic, fighting off several match points before forcing a tiebreaker and finally pulling out the victory.