“[Rupert] was really good, she had a lot of different weapons and the first set, I didn’t really figure out what her weaknesses were,” Lee said. “In the second and third sets, I tried to work my way through, and since she was a lefty I was just hitting more to her backhand, and pushing her back with high balls and moving in on the short balls. I fought pretty hard, and even though I lost it was still a good match.”

After Monica Lin’s loss at second singles gave Houston a 2-1 lead overall, the Crimson battled back with wins in matches lower on the singles ladder. He easily dispatched her opponent at fourth singles, and her doubles partner Amanda Lin followed up with a win of her own at sixth singles to put Harvard up, 3-2, with two matches remaining. Senior captain Hannah Morrill then clinched the match for the Crimson in the fifth spot, coming back after a first set loss to win the match two sets to one.

With the win over Houston giving the Crimson another victory heading into their Ivy League matches, the team is confident in its ability to be an important player in the conference this season.

“We want to do the same thing that we’re doing now [in our coming matches],” Lee said. “We want to stay focused and have that same belief with every school we play, that it doesn’t matter what ranking they are. Numbers don’t really mean anything, and we just want to have the same high intensity for every match coming up.”

—Staff writer Glynis K. Healey can be reached at ghealey@college.harvard.edu.