After two weekends without a dual match, Harvard appeared ready to take on the Golden Bears (6-10, 2-3 Pac-10) on Monday. And as the score indicates, the Crimson came close.
The squad took the all-important doubles point, sweeping all three matches—an occurrence which harkens back to the squad’s early-season doubles dominance.
And, unlike the heckling which was to come at Stanford, the Crimson enjoyed a relatively mellow time at Berkeley. The matches were played on six courts which lay next to each other, unlike the next day at Palo Alto, where the matches were split into groups of three.
“We did our best to deal with playing at somebody else’s home [both times],” Chu said, although he indicated that the Stanford atmosphere which followed was somewhat more challenging.
The Golden Bears managed to stand strong on their own courts, though, as the team took the top three singles matches. Lingman pushed his contest to three sets before falling 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, but Chu fell 6-3, 6-4 and Riddell 6-3, 6-0.
Li also lost 3-6, 6-7, and the four singles defeats solidified a Golden Bears victory.
The Crimson did earn two singles wins, as Nguyen and Chiou both took their matches 6-4, 6-2.
These triumphs were not enough, though, as the squad lost its second straight dual match 4-3—the first, of course, was suffered at the hands of No. 8 Virginia Commonwealth on March 14.
Overall, the losses to California and Stanford have handed the Crimson a three-match losing streak; in fact, it is the first time Harvard has dropped consecutive outings. However, the team is careful to dwell on the long-term goals rather than the short-term disappointments.
“Even with these two losses, we’re still putting ourselves in a position to [qualify for the NCAA tournament],” Mandeau explained. “We’re still the highest ranked team in the region, and things are moving in a forward direction. Even with the losses, we’re still doing OK.”
Chu agreed, adding that “up and down the lineup, we’re all fighting hard, we’re all trying our best.
“When we all get on the same page,” he added, “which is hopefully what will happen by the NCAAs, we’re going to be tough to beat if not impossible to beat.”