Netmen Defeat Navy, 6-3, Remain in Title Contention

Harvard's tennis team moved one step closer to a share of the Eastern Intercollegiate Tennis Association title Saturday, when it sank Navy, 6-3, in the final home match of the season.

The victory, Harvard's fifth in conference play, keeps the Crimson netmen even with Penn and Princeton. Each team has dropped one contest.

Harvard's win over the midshipmen was marred by Rocky Jarvis' first singles defeat of the year. Jarvis finally fell, 2-6, 6-1, 6-3, to Dave Beard, Navy's number two player. After breezing through the first set, Jarvis appeared to lose his concentration. He had trouble controlling Beard's hopping serve and committed costly errors from the baseline.

John Levin, plagued by a lingering virus, lost, 10-8, 6-1, to Navy's Bob Cowen for Harvard's only other singles defeat. Levin struggled to hold service throughout the first set. With the score at 8-9, he fell behind, 40-0, and could not recover. Cowen, then coasted to an easy two-set triumph.

Navy Doubles Win

Cowen and Beard combined to capture Navy's only doubles win. They edged Levin and Terry Oxford at the number one position, 7-5, 10-8.

Further down the ladder, Harvard maintained a clear superiority. Captain Jose Gonzales relied upon his big first service to plaster his opponent, 6-2, 6-2. Once Gonzales got to the net he became unbeatable, putting away every ball in sight.

Kent Parrot continued to shine at number four singles. The senior hockey star hustled to a 6-2, 6-4 victory. The outcome was never really in question, as Parrot knocked pin-point groundstrokes to all corners of his opponent's court.

Teaming together at number two doubles, Gonzales and Parrot found the competition a bit more challenging. They needed three sets to defeat their persistent midshipmen opponents, 6-4, 5-7, 6-2.

Oxford Undefeated

Terry Oxford kept his undefeated record intact with a 6-3, 6-2 win at number five singles.

Sophomore Larry Terrell made quick work of Navy's number six men, slashing out a lopsided 6-1, 6-0, triumph. Terrell had an easy afternoon, as he and Rick Sterne volleyed to an impressive win at third doubles.

Today, the Crimson racketmen travel to Cornell in pursuit of another important conference victory.