The team tried to put the tough loss behind it by vying for individual honors at the 2011 CSA Individual Championships in Hanover, N.H.

Guruge made it to the semifinals while Gemmell reached the finals, hoping to once again repeat as the individual national champion. At that point, the sophomore was undefeated in her collegiate career, having won 32 straight matches.

Gemmell took on Bulldog freshman No.2 Millie Tomlinson. Tomlinson won a close first set on her way to a three-set victory, making the Eli the national champion in the Ramsay division, the competition’s top tier.

In the Ramsay first-round consolation bracket, Crimson junior Cece Cortes won, defeating sophomore teammate Natasha Kingshott in four sets in the finals.

The team is looking to continue its success in 2011-2012. The players believe they have the chance to accomplish the goal with the return of two first-team All-Americans, Gemmell and Guruge, and second-team All-Americans in Cortes and Kingshott.

“We have a really strong freshman class coming in, and we [will] keep a lot of our top players on the team this year,” Gemmell said. “I think everyone is really excited, and we’ll have a really strong season next year.”

—Staff writer Cameron Dowd can be reached at camerondowd14@college.harvard.edu.