After sophomore Amanda Lin and junior Sylvia Li won at third doubles to give Harvard the doubles point and put the Crimson up, 1-0, the match turned to singles play. Harvard quickly wrapped up the contest, winning three of the first four matches.
Monica Lin was the first to finish her match, as she quickly dispatched Kobelt at second singles to give the Crimson the first singles point, and Lee also won her match at third singles in two sets. After Morrill was defeated by Breanna Bachini at fifth singles to give Syracuse its only point of the match, it fell to Liang to give Harvard its fourth point. She succeeded, beating Rodgers in a third set tiebreaker to clinch the match for Harvard.
“[Rodgers] was very tall and she was a lefty, and she was just overall a good player,” Liang said. “I took the first set, 6-2, and then she fought back and won, 6-3. Even though I lost the set I just stayed calm and just kept fighting, and my teammates helped me stay intense and inspired me to fight for them.”
Amanda Lin and Amy He also recorded wins for the Crimson to finish off the 6-1 victory.
HARVARD 4, BOSTON UNIVERSITY 0
On Saturday, Harvard blanked the visiting Terriers from BU, winning the doubles point and the first three singles matches in straight sets to make quick work of the match.
“We had amazing energy,” Lee said. “We were really focused, but we were cheering each other on so much. It was amazing, it was so loud on the court all the time. You could just feel the support.”
Liang and Lin took the first doubles match in a 6-3 decision, and Morrill and Lee followed suit with their own 6-3 victory at second doubles to secure the doubles point for Harvard. The match then moved into the singles, where the Crimson continued its dominant play. Morrill swept Sami Lieb with 6-0 and 6-1 victories and was followed quickly by Lin’s 6-1, 6-3 win at second singles to put Harvard one point away from a victory.
Lee wrapped up the match with her second win of the day, a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Leonie-Charloette Athanasiadis. All other matches in progress were stopped after Harvard clinched the match in a 4-0 victory.
“I’m just looking to stay aggressive throughout the whole match and stay positive,” Lee said. “I think as a team our goal is just going to make sure that we support each other and make each other play as best as we can.”
—Staff writer Glynis K. Healey can be reached at ghealey@college.harvard.edu.