Playing intercollegiate No. 5 Pam Saunders, Wilkins was frustrated with the officiating early in the match. Trailing 6-2 in the first game, Saunders hustled to track down a Wilkins drop shot, but Wilkins claimed she hadn’t reached the ball.

On the next point, the animosity between the players escalated as Saunders complained that Wilkins was repeatedly running into her. Then, with Wilkins leading 8-4, more controversy ensued as she tripped over Saunders’ foot. Despite the distractions, Wilkins was able to escape the game with a 10-8 victory.

Trailing 7-5 in the second game, Wilkins seemed to lose her composure in dropping the next point. She rallied, though, to take the next two. Taking a moment to collect herself, Wilkins captured the last three points of the game for another 10-8 win.

In the third game, Saunders staked herself to a 2-0 lead, but Wilkins came back to tie the score with a pretty, angled shot. The Harvard freshman began to exercise her dominance in taking a 4-2 lead and, after dropping a point on a stroke, won the next five and the match as Saunders self-destructed, spraying shots over the court and into the tin and hitting the wall with her racket.

While Wilkins and Saunders battled on Brady Court, Austin and Harvard junior Ella Witcher, ranked No. 26 nationally, had the match of the day on Fiederowicz Court.

Austin took the first game 9-2, but Witcher recovered to eke out a 10-9 victory to even the match.

Witcher then won the third game, 9-2, but Austin, not to be outdone, held Witcher scoreless in the fourth, setting up the climactic final game. In front of a throng of anxious teammates and fans packed sardine-style outside the court, Austin ultimately prevailed, 10-9, in the afternoon’s tightest match.

Meanwhile, Carolynne Minkowski beat Crimson sophomore Kristin Wadhwa in straight games, 9-5, 9-6, 9-7.

The featured contest in the next round of matches was at No. 2, where intercollegiate No. 5 Elias took on No. 2 Lynn Leong.

Elias hit a near perfect shot to jump out to a 4-2 advantage in the first game, but Leong immediately came back, winning the next five points—the last three on gorgeous shots—en route to taking the game, 9-5.

The rookie then made quick work of Elias in the second game, winning 9-1, before closing Elias out with a 9-2 triumph in the third game.

Harvard co-captain and national No. 19 Colby Hall, in one of the final matches of her collegiate career, handily defeated Anderson at No. 5, 9-6, 9-4, 9-2, while freshman Hillary Thorndike had even less trouble at No. 8, beating Meridy Vollmer, 9-1, 9-2, 9-2.

Entering the last three matches of the day, then, the teams were tied, 3-3. The final round gave the fans an opportunity to watch the nation’s top player, Trinity’s Amina Helal and intercollegiate No. 3 sophomore Louisa Hall compete. Hall executed clinically in the first game, pounding her way to a 9-3 advantage.

“Louisa’s never taken a game from Amina,” Bajwa said. “She came in fighting and won the first game, but it’s hard to keep that going.”

Indeed, Hall began to feel the pressure of the moment, especially upon learning that freshman Stephanie Hendricks had fallen to Bronwyn Cooper, 9-0, 10-8, 4-9, 9-6 at No. 7, meaning Hall had to win to keep the Crimson’s hopes alive.