“In previous years, we maybe psychoanalyzed it too much,” Thorndike said. “There are some ways to compare the teams, but we haven’t been focusing on it too much.”Harvard is hoping to benefit from its intersession training trip to California, where the Crimson recovered from exam period with a non-stop barrage of match play. The squad played a variety of opponents, including adults and club teams, providing a change in the type of competition. The Crimson also played exhibitions against both the Stanford men and women. These teams, only recently established, presented a very different style of play from Harvard’s typical intercollegiate opposition.

“College kids have a textbook game, versus the guys we were playing from Stanford,” Thorndike said. “They were strong, in great shape, scrappy—a totally different type of player. And then the older people have a lot wiser play. It was just a good mix. It’s nice to get out of the comfort zone.”

This afternoon, the Crimson hopes that the confidence and energy from the training trip will provide the boost necessary to break an ignoble three-year tradition.

“They are always hungry to beat Harvard every year, and Harvard’s always hungry to beat them,” Wilkins said. “They come out with their guns blazing, hungry and ready to play.”

—Staff writer Lisa J. Kennelly can be reached at kennell@fas.harvard.edu.