Women's tennis has successful tournament at Harvard

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by Angela Arnold

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The competition featured local teams such as Boston College and Boston University, but also included the University of Colorado, the University of Wisconsin and the host team Harvard University.

Clear skies and cool weather welcomed the women to Boston, where they made a strong showing. In some flights they were overpowering, forcing the final games to be decided between Rice players.

Freshman Justyna Gudzowska and sophomore Vessie Ivanova found themselves facing each other in the championship match of the Flight 5 singles.

Both Gudzowska and Ivanova had won their first matches 6-0, 6-2 against competitors from Harvard.

Then they coasted through their second round matches 6-4, 6-3, and 6-3, 6-3, respectively, placing them in the finals. The championship came down to experience, as Ivanova beat Gudzowska 6-2, 6-2.

In the Flight 2 doubles, sophomore Jessica Gagnon and freshman Jennifer Velasco met the doubles team of senior Olga Limón and Ivanova in the final match.

This was Gagnon and Velasco's first tournament as a doubles team and at times it showed.

"In the first and second rounds we lost our first set but came back to win the second," Gagnon said. "It took us a while to get our momentum going."

Limón and Ivanova had an easier time in the early rounds winning one match 6-4, 6-4, and the other by default.

Gagnon and Velasco had gained enough momentum to win the first set 6-2, but the more experienced team of Limón and Ivanova walked away with first place after winning the final two sets 6-2, 6-3.

In the Flight 1 doubles, juniors Paula Myslivecek and Erin Talton won second place. They defeated their first and second round opponents in two sets, but they struggled in the final losing 6-4, 1-6, 6-2.

Gudzowska and Jane Trinh won their first round in the Flight 3 doubles, but were defeated in the second round and also in the match for third place.

The singles flights were also productive for the women. Along with the first and second places won in the Flight 5 Singles, the owls finished with four 5th place wins and one 3rd place wins.

In Flight 1, Myslivecek barely lost in the first round to BU's Kerry Stakem 6-3, 3-6, 7-6.

She easily worked her way through the consolation rounds, though, and won fifth place in a 6-4, 6-4 match.

In Flight 2, Gagnon won her first match 6-1, 6-1, but lost in the second round to Gabriella Hricko from Harvard.

In the match to decide third place Gagnon was defeated by Rosemary She, a Harvard player who was ranked 10th in the nation last year.

Velasco had a strong performance in her second outing as an Owl. Velasco lost two close sets in her first match.

She said, "I was mad that I lost that first match, so in my next two matches I worked really hard."

Her hard work paid off as she defeated two Harvard players on her way to a fifth-place finish.

In the Flight 4 singles, Talton finished third. After winning her first match and losing her second, Talton took third place in two sets 6-4, 6-2.

Limón lost her first match, but easily defeated all her consolation round oppenents to win fifth place.

In the final singles flight, Trinh won the fifth-place spot with a see-sawing 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, match in the consolation round.

After its successful showng at Harvard, the team staying home and taking the weekend off.

This item appeared in the Sports section of the October 6, 1995 issue.

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