For the Crimson, the win had additional meaning, as it gave the team’s seniors their first Ivy title on their last day of league play.

“I really wanted to win this for the seniors mostly,” Nguyen said. “They haven’t won an Ivy League championship all four years here, so winning it for them was unbelievable. It was a really great feeling.”

Pearlman expressed the seniors’ excitement, citing the long hours the team has put in as adding extra significance to the victory.

“It was a really amazing feeling,” Pearlman said. “To win it in my last year, especially given the strength of the Ivies this year, was really phenomenal. It’s just a tribute to all the hard work we’ve put in. This squad has worked in a tremendous way, more so than in my other years in the League. It’s a good feeling when that pays off.”

Four and a half hours after the first serve was completed, it all came down to that willingness to battle. And, for Harvard, the battle was the most important part.

“We were able to fight for the championship,” Nguyen concluded. “Rather than let it come to us, we went out and got it.”

—Staff writer Juliet Spies-Gans can be reached at jspiesgans@college.harvard.edu.