“Though we didn’t end up placing very well as a whole, it was still a good weekend with good matches,” Barry said. “We had a good time.”
With strong performances by the younger members of Harvard’s squad, the Crimson proved that it will remain competitive next season.
Women
The Crimson women competed well during the tournament, but five of the six fell to Trinity opponents to end their season.
Trinity beat Harvard in both the regular season and the Howe Cup national team championship finals for the Crimson’s only two losses of the season.
“We were sad that we lost to the girls from Trinity since we really wanted to prove ourselves against them,” co-captain Colby Hall said. “But we all had fun with the people from all the teams, which is what the weekend was really about for us.”
Placing highest for the Crimson in the main draw was Harvard’s No. 1 player, sophomore Louisa Hall. Ranked No. 3 in the nation, the younger Hall lost in the semifinals to No. 2 Lynn Leong of Trinity in straight games, 9-4, 9-1, 9-2. Freshman No. 7 Lindsey Wilkins also succumbed to Leong, losing in the quarterfinals 9-2, 9-1, 9-5.
“[Leong]’s hard to play because she doesn’t play like many of the other college players in that she has a different style of game and hits a lot of drops from all over the court,” Hall said. “It was hard to adjust to that.”
To reach the semis, Hall defeated No. 6 Olga Puidgemont Sola, who plays No. 1 for Cornell, 9-7, 9-5, 9-6. This meeting marked the first victory for Hall over Puidgemont Sola, who won their regular season match-up in December.
“It was a good hurdle for me to get over in terms of confidence,” Hall said.
Senior Carlin Wing had a strong weekend as well, ending her collegiate career by reaching the finals of the consolation bracket. Wing lost to No. 8 Pam Saunders of Trinity, 3-9, 3-9, 9-5, 9-5, 9-4. Saunders had already defeated Colby Hall in the quarterfinals of the consolation bracket 9-2, 9-7, 9-1.
Feeling sick the entire weekend, Wing showed impressive resilience to stay competitive in the draining five-game match.
“To get herself psyched up for that was a big feat and very brave of her,” Colby Hall said. “It really could have gone either way, and I’m sure in other circumstances she would have won.”
Hall lost in the round of 16 of the main draw to the eventual tournament winner, No. 1 Trinity sophomore Amina Helal, 9-1, 9-0, 9-1.
Hall’s co-captain, No. 5 Margaret Elias, lost in the quarters 9-7, 9-0, 9-2 to No. 4 Runa Reta, who is Penn’s No. 1.
“Everyone did well,” Louisa Hall said. “There were some tough losses, but everyone had a good showing in general.”
The outlook for next season is promising for the women as well, as their other freshman entry, Hillary Thorndike, reached the semifinals of the second draw.