Racquetmen Try For Third Win

Harvard's varsity squash team faces its third match in five days when the Crimson travels to Amherst today seeking a third consecutive 9-0 victory. The Lord Jeffs are superior to MIT and the equal of Army, the Crimson's first two victims, but few teams, perhaps only Penn, will match the quality of Harvard's talent this season.

Most squads would tremble at the thought of scheduling four matches in seven days (Harvard hosts Navy on Friday), but the Crimson is so deep with talent that most players are more challenged by trying to advance on the ladder in practices than in facing intercollegiate competition.

Amherst was the equal of Navy, Williams and Princeton last year, but the Jeffs have lost their top man, Mike Pelletier, and the remaining squad is largely an unknown quantity.

Last year's Amherst match was far more significant. At that time, Harvard was a young squad with only four returning lettermen. The Crimson had toppled Army and MIT, but little was known of the true strength of the defending national champions.

A Perfect Season?

On that afternoon, Harvard played without its number one, and eight men successfully advanced a position. The highlight of the match was Dave Fish, at that time unrecognized, in his victory over Pelletier, a ranking player.

Today the Crimson will prove little except that it may be able to go through the season without dropping a point. Amherst's victory may be measured in the winning of a single game.

Sophomore Archie Gwathmey commented earlier this week that there was more pressure to win for the varsity, although the competitors at number eight may be less talented than last year's top Yardlings.

"There's an enormous difference in getting up for the match," Gwathmey said. "Knowing that Harvard never loses, you're forced to play the highest caliber of game. I feel a lot more pressure as a sophomore trying to equal the tradition."

Should Harvard sweep past Amherst and Navy this week, the Crimson will need that internal pressure to maintain its momentum into the not-so-distant showdown with Penn in February. Harvard has yet to lose a point, and if that becomes a goal, the Crimson will have found a new incentive to carry it through every match.