Tennis Team Tops Navy After Dismal Trip South

The Harvard tennis team came off an uninspired southern tour, losing nine of eleven matches, to beat Navy, 6-3, Saturday in the Eastern League opener.

Sophomores John Levin and Rocky Jarvis. Who excelled throughout the tour, won the first doubles and the third and fourth singles against the Midshipmen at Annapolis.

Number one man Bernie Adelsberg and number two Brian Davis both lost their singles matches but combined for a 6-3, 8-6 win at second doubles. The senior combination of Dean Bauer and Dave Hodges took the third doubles handily, 6-2, 6-2.

Steve Deverenx, at fifth singles, also won his varsity debut in the only three-set match of the afternoon, 2-6, 6-1, 6-1. Sophomore Bruce Wiegand lost at sixth singles.

Minus Three

Harvard opened its Eastern title defense without three of its top eight players. Jose Gonzalez and Dick Appleby, predicted to play at number two and three, did not make the trip, and sophomore Marty Flusser (eight) quit with a bad leg after one match.

The team divided into two squads for the tour. The first varsity squad, composed of the top four plus Bauer and Hodges, defeated two Richmond, Va., clubs and lost twice to Georgia, 5-4 and 7-2, and twice to the University of North Carolina, 8-1 and 6-3.

The sophomore-laden second varsity squad lost to the Richmond clubs and to Crimson, Davidson, and Presbyterian.

The sparkling play of Levin and Jarvis contrasted with the disappointing performance of Adelsberg. The tempermental Crimson junior lost five of his first six singles matches before succumbing at Navy, 7-5, 6-3, to a frequent opponent who had not beaten him in eight years.

Levin and Jarvis were elevated to number one and two for the return match at U.N.C., after winning four of their first five matches.

Levin responded by extending Bitsy Harrison, the nation's 18th-ranked player, to an 11-9 second set. Harrison, a 6' 7" 27-year old giant, lost his first set in a dozen matches when the Levin-Jarvis duo got to match point against him and Gene Hamilton (the North Carolina state champion) before losing, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5.

The team opens at home Wednesday against M.I.T.