Ah, the warm sun, the gentle breeze, the beautiful climate of California during spring break could make anyone, even a driven Harvard student, into a lethargic mess for a week.

That's exactly what happened to the Harvard men's tennis team over spring break, as it returned from California almost empty-handed with one win and three losses. The trip dropped the Crimson's record to 9-8, but more importantly hurt the momentum the team wants going into the Ivy League season.

On Sunday, Mar. 26, Harvard witnessed the biggest win ever for a tennis program. Unfortunately, not Harvard.

Playing against a historically weak Santa Clara team, Harvard fell 4-3 in a meet that came down to the final minutes.

Crimson freshman Dave Lingman, playing at No. 2 singles, won in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4, over Ryan Livesay, and junior Anthony Barker defeated Marcell Hlousek, 6-2, 6-1, to give Harvard an early lead. The Crimson also swept the doubles, giving it a 3-0 lead.

Broncos freshman Federico Mattioli then beat sophomore Cillie Swart 6-1, 6-3, at No. 5, and teammate Scott Watters defeated another Harvard sophomore, William Lee, 6-2, 6-3, to pull Santa Clara to within one point. The final two matches would decide the outcome.

Lars Nelson overcame a poor second set to defeat Crimson co-captain Joe Green, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, to tie the match. The final game of the afternoon was at No. 4 singles, where Harvard junior Andrew Styperek was taking on Matt Cox. Cox won the first set 7-6 (7-4) lost the second 6-7 (7-2) and then broke at 5-4 in the third to win the match 6-4.

The win was Santa Clara's first victory over a nationally ranked opponent. Harvard was No. 66 going into the match.