Radcliffe Squash Wins Opener, Tops Wellesley by 3-2 Margin

Radcliffe's squash team opened its season with a 3-2 triumph over a favored Wellesley squad yesterday, thus avenging a 5-0 drubbing that Wellesley handed the Crimson in last year's opening match.

Playing with four veterans from last year's squad, Radcliffe has equalled its one-game winning record of last year, the first season that Radcliffe fielded a squash team.

Mid Three Win

Radcliffe's triumphs occurred in the middle three positions, as Susan Handy, Julia Moore and Susana DeSola, all veterans from last year, each emerged victorious.

Handy, playing in the number-two position, had the easiest time. After taking the first game by a 16-14 margin, Handy's opponent, Mimi Stockman, defaulted, giving the triumph to Radcliffe.

Moore and DeSola, in the third and fourth positions, respectively, were each pushed to four games by their Wellesley opponents.

Moore easily won the first two games of her match, but she faltered in overtime of the third game, bowing by a score of 18-17. The Radcliffe sophomore quickly recovered her composure, however, winning the fourth game and the match with ease, 15-6.

After splitting her first two games, DeSola, a junior, rallied to capture the third game, 15-8. With the momentum now in her favor, she then clinched the triumph for Radcliffe by taking the deciding game by a margin of 17-14.

Radcliffe's lone defeats were absorbed by captain Ruth Stevens, the senior on the team, and junior Emma Levin.

Playing against Wellesley's top performer, Claire Swanger, Stevens managed to take an early lead and won the first game 15-7. Swanger's superior play won out, however, as she swept the next three games, and in so doing, limited the Radcliffe captain to just 19 points.

Levin, Radcliffe's fifth performer, lost in three successive games. She is the lone newcomer to the Radcliffe squad, and yesterday's match was her first competitive encounter.

Radcliffe's next match is this Saturday against Exeter at Exeter. The racquet-women hold a special place in their hearts for Exeter, the only team to have lost to Radcliffe last season.