Columbia Drops Crimson Netmen, 8-1

A powerful Columbia tennis squad proved to be too much for the varsity netmen to handle Saturday, as the Lions defeated the Crimson, 8-1, in a key Ivy League match at the Palmer Dixon courts.

Captain John Ingard, playing at number three, turned in the only Harvard victory of the day, as he dropped his Columbia opponent in three sets.

Coach Jack Barnaby said last night. "I was especially pleased with John. He came back after losing a heartbreaker to Penn on Friday and turned in a fine performance."

Number one man Gary Reiner was also a bright spot for the Crimson in his loss against last year's Ivy League individual champion, Henry Bunis. Senior Bunis has lost only one match in the last three years, in the finals of the ECAC tournament championships this fall.

Reiner, after losing the first set to Bunis, 2-6, stormed back in the second set to tie it at one apiece with a 6-2 win of his own, only to lose the third set, 6-3.

A Great Losing Effort

"I have never seen a better losing effort," Barnaby said. "Gary really played a tremendous match against a very tough opponent."

The closest match of the day was at number four, where John Horne lost the tiebreaker in the third set. Hugh Hyde, playing number five, also lost in three sets, while Todd Lundy and Chip Baird both dropped straight sets to their tough Lion opponents.

The three doubles teams fell victim to the Columbia squad too, as they all lost the single set that each doubles team was to play. "We had lost the match already, and the team just wasn't up for the doubles," Barnaby said about their lackluster performance.

The match was especially upsetting for the Crimson, since it dealt the squad's Ivy League title hopes a serious blow. Barring any major upsets by the weaker Ivy teams, the team must now beat defending Ivy champion Princeton, whom it will face on May 9, and then the Tigers must beat Columbia if Harvard is to grab a share of the first-place laurels.