“Penn had nothing to lose and we have to give them credit for how tough they were,” Lee said. “Being a point down and coming back all the way, you definitely have to give them credit. They played all-out, with nothing to lose and it came down to one match. They were the tougher team today.”
HARVARD, 5, PRINCETON, 2
Harvard’s most lopsided win of conference play came in what was the team’s most important match to date. Needing a victory to clinch at least a share of the Ivy League crown, the Crimson roared to a sweep in doubles and never looked back. Freshman Natasha Gonzalez and Milunovich took all six games in their match against Princeton’s Gaby Kollner and Sivan Krems while junior Annika Ringblom and sophomore Sabrina Xiong clinched the all-important doubles point with a 6-3 win over Clare McKee and Katrine Steffensen.
“Going into Princeton, everyone was really pumped,” Lee said. “The weekend before was really motivating. Our really close match with Cornell made us work even harder during the week. We knew exactly what we had to do.”
Milunovich and Ringblom were both able to carry their momentum from doubles action into singles. Playing at No. 3, Milunovich topped fellow freshman Tiffany Chen, 7-6, 6-1. It was a bounceback win for Milunovich, who dropped both of her singles matches last weekend in New York. It took Ringblom three sets to dispatch Krems at fourth singles but the New Canaan, Conn., native remained perfect for the day.
Oosterhout and Lee made it a sweep at the top four spots for Harvard with wins at first and second singles, respectively. Oosterhout handed Steffensen her second loss of the afternoon, 7-5, 6-2. Lee followed suit at No. 2, topping fellow senior Caroline Joyce in straight sets. The Crimson’s only hiccups on the afternoon came at fifth and sixth singles. Freshman Irene Lu fell in straight sets to sophomore Nicole Kalhorn while her classmate and former doubles partner suffered a setback in an epic three set affair, ultimately falling 3-6, 7-6, 11-9.
—Staff writer Stephen J. Gleason can be reached at stephen.gleason@thecrimson.com.