“They’re big shoes to fill,” Grigg said. “I’m trying more or less not to think about it too much because she was such a great player.”
EMBRACING THE COMPETITION
Taking over the top spot at one of the country’s best teams is a challenging undertaking, but for players as experienced as these, the adjustment to intercollegiate play is not. Playing equally skilled players allows the four a competitive challenge not seen in secondary school play.
“I’m looking forward to playing people better than me, and losing matches,” Balsekar said. The latter would be a new experience for Balsekar—the three-time New England champion finished high school with a 48-0 record.
“My first two years, there was no one I could hit with,” Balsekar said. “Here, I can hit with most people on the team and it’s fine.”
As in other sports, the first step in adjusting to the increased competition of college play takes place in practice.
“The nice thing about the really strong girls on the team,” Berylson said. “They’re so open to playing with me or any of the other girls on the team. In my position, it’s a great opportunity to be playing with these really great players.”
It also means competition for playing time—Berylson, the No. 1 for 2004 Independent School League champion Milton Academy, has lined up at No. 10, but will work to move into the ranks of the nine matches that count for the match score.
“It’s ridiculous how much more intense it is, and people take it much more seriously,” Berylson said. “It’s awesome to be on a team where everyone cares so much and is working towards a similar goal.”
UNHOLY TRINITY
That goal is the Ivy championship and the Howe Cup, which determines the national champion. Standing in Harvard’s way are Princeton, Trinity, and most of all, Yale, which went undefeated last season and won both the league and national titles.
“I’d like to beat Yale, and I’d really like to beat Trinity,” said Blumberg. “I want to beat whomever I get put against, obviously,” she added.
The Bulldogs are favorites, entering the season with the top three intercollegiate players in the sport. In last year’s rebuilding season, the Crimson fell to Yale twice—first in the regular season 7-2, and then in the Howe Cup 6-3.
Two years ago, the Bulldogs upset Harvard 8-1 in the Howe Cup semifinals to end the Crimson’s hopes of a national title run.
“Our goal is to reverse that 8-1 loss into a 5-4 win,” Bajwa said. “I feel that we are back to what we were...If we perform well, then we have a great chance of squeaking an Ivy title.”
But the road to the Howell Cup runs uphill.
While the team warmed up by shutting down Brown and Williams weekends ago, with Grigg, Balsekar and Blumberg each winning in straight sets, the more intense competition is waiting in February.
“We are underdogs, still,” Bajwa acknowledged.
But they are underdogs with four yet-to-be-deployed weapons.