After sitting out for two weeks due to injury, senior co-captains Courtney Bergman and Susanna Lingman returned to the court at full strength this weekend for the No. 19 Harvard women’s tennis team (7-3).

On Friday, Bergman topped Northwestern’s Audra Cohen, the top singles player in the nation, in a 4-3 loss to the No. 4 Wildcats (11-1). On Saturday against No. 9 North Carolina (11-4), Lingman defeated Kendall Cline, the No. 23 ranked singles player, contributing to the Crimson’s 5-2 rout of the Tar Heels.

All in all, the returning seniors were a welcome addition.

NORTHWESTERN 4, HARVARD 3

In three tough sets, Bergman—currently ranked No. 40 in the nation—defeated Cohen by a score of 6-4, 5-7, 6-1. Bergman led 4-3 in the second set before falling 5-7, but she cruised to the 6-1 final set victory after taking a 3-0 lead.

Senior Alexis Martire and junior Eva Wang also posted singles wins on Friday, defeating their opponents 7-6, 6-3, and 6-3, 6-4, respectively.

Lingman and freshman Celia Durkin both fell in two-set tiebreakers, while sophomore Elsa O’Riain was defeated after three hard-fought sets.

On the doubles side, Durkin and junior Melissa Anderson were victorious in an 8-4 decision, but the point went to the Wildcats, whose first and second-ranked teams beat Bergman and Lingman, 8-3, and O’Riain and freshman Stephanie Schnitter, 8-6.

“It was a good fight,” Martire said. “They just played a little bit better.”

While the loss was disappointing, the team was proud of its efforts.

“They were big hitters,” Schnitter added. “But we were close.”

HARVARD 5, NORTH CAROLINA 2

After falling to the Northwestern, the Crimson was ready to take care of business against North Carolina and won an impressive five out of six singles contests to triumph over the Tar Heels.

“We came out ready to destroy them,” O’Riain said.

North Carolina claimed the doubles point when its top two pairs defeated Bergman and Lingman and O’Riain and Schnitter, each by a score of 8-5.