Racquetmen Overcome Engineers, 8-1, As First Doubles Wins a Three-Setter

Playing their first home match of the season after a week-long Southern swing where they picked up victories in Virginia and North Carolina, the Crimson netmen overwhelmed MIT, 8-1, yesterday.

Junior Ken Lindner, taking over the number one position from recently departed Harris Masterson, could not muster a win over the Engineers' top player, William Young.

Young, whose only New England loss last year was to Masterson, took the first set from Lindner, 7-6, with a 5-3 victory in the tie-breaker. After that close start, Lindner lost his touch and dropped the second set, 6-1.

The Rest was Easy

The remainder of the singles matches provided no challenge as Harvard swept them without losing another set.

Gary Reiner, playing the number two spot, swamped Ted Zauros, 6-1, 6-2; while John Ingard and Tom Loring, playing at number three and number four respectively, lost only six games between them.

Randy Barnett played the minimum number of games and left the court with a 6-0, 6-0 victory; and Chip Baird, playing at the sixth position, won quickly, 6-3, 6-3.

Doubles

The first doubles match provided the most excitement and the best play of the day. Loring teamed with Barnett to challenge the strong duo of Young and Lee Simpson.

The first set was played faultlessly and went to a tie-breaker which the Engineers won. In the second set, each team broke service once. Down 4-2 in the tie-breaker, Loring and Barnett staved off three match points to win the set, again 7-6, and then went on to win the final set with yet another tie-breaker.

"The match was tough and tight-I was very pleased that they could win such a pressure match," coach Jack Barnaby said after the impressive victory.

In the other two doubles matches, Reiner and Ingard won, 6-2,6-2; and Baird and Gardy Rowbotham teamed to win 6-1, 6-3.

The racquetmen now face their toughest weekend of the year with back-to-back away matches against Penn and Navy.