Samantha Gridley (pictured) and the Crimson host Boston College Saturday morning (photo courtesy Gil Talbot).

The Particulars
The Harvard women's tennis team will host cross-town rival Boston College Saturday morning at the Murr Center Tennis Courts. It is the second home match of the season for the Crimson after defeating Boston University, 5-2, Jan. 22.

About Harvard
The Crimson enters Saturday's contest with a 1-2 record. After a season-opening victory over BU, the Crimson fell to No. 20 Northwestern and No. 38 Boise State at the ITA Division I Kickoff Weekend tournament hosted by Northwestern.

No. 45 Holly Cao is currently undefeated at 2-0 this spring, while Kristin Norton and Hideko Tachibana each hold 2-1 singles records. The Crimson holds a collective 8-7 singles record through the first three matches of the season.

Harvard has had stellar play in singles this season as the Crimson has records of .500 or above at four of the six seeds this season.

About Boston College
The Eagles are 1-1 heading into the weekend after opening the season with a loss to Yale and a win over Massachusetts. BC will host Maryland Friday before making the trip to Cambridge Saturday morning.

BC won every match against the Minutewomen except the No. 5 singles match. Alex Kelleher won the No. 1 singles match and then paired with Olga Khmylev to win the No. 1 doubles match.

Katarina Gajic is the lone Eagle with a 2-0 singles record this spring.

Last Time Out
The Crimson lost a heartbreaker to Boise State, 4-3, Jan. 30. The Broncos and Harvard were even through the singles matches and split the first two doubles matches before falling, 8-6, in the final doubles match.

Winning Ways
Including fall tournament records, six Crimson student-athletes have records at or above .500 in singles play. Cao paces the Crimson with a 9-2 record, while Samantha Gridley, Samantha Rosekrans, Hannah Morrill and Tachibana hold records of .500 or better.

Grounding the Eagles
The Crimson holds a 29-8 series mark over the Eagles. The first match between the schools took place in 1977. BC won that match, but Harvard won the next 14 and has won the last two head-to-head meetings.

Looking Ahead
Harvard will host Maryland Feb. 13 at the Murr Center Tennis Courts. Harvard  is 2-0 in previous meetings with the Terrapins.