No. 73 and unanimous first-team All-Ivy pick Cao lost her first set, 6-4, to No. 12 Gullickson on the No. 1 court, although she was leading, 5-2, in the second when play stopped.
“I played pretty well overall, but I think I could have hung in there more in the first set,” Cao said. “I always believe I can compete against the top players in the nation. It’s just unfortunate that the match was decided before I finished the second set.”
The unanimous Ivy League Rookie of the Year Tachibana played neck-and-neck with No. 48 Gilchrist before losing the first set in a tiebreak.
With the loss, the Crimson now faces the difficult task to improve upon this season’s performance in 2011.
“We are hoping to go into next year with the motivation to reach NCAAs again and hopefully win in the first round,” Rosekrans said.
—Staff writer Eric L. Michel can be reached at emichel@fas.harvard.edu.