Racquetwomen Win State Title

Following up last week's lopsided victory in the GBC's Harvard continued its domination of intrastate rivals as the Crimson raquetwomen easily swept to the finals in all three draws and took the MAIAW Division I championship held Saturday and Sunday in Worcester.

Freshman slugger Tiina Bougas brought the Crimson a bit closer to the promised land of big time tennis as she captured the state singles crown and highlighted a Harvard onslaught, which, because of the scoring system used, actually clinched the team title on the tournament's first day.

Second seeded doubles team Debbie Kalish and Martha Roberts joined Bougas in the winner's circle.

Captain Meg Meyer, playing in the second singles draw, reached the finals Saturday, defeating 2 oppoonents, but was unable to top her opposition in Sunday's final.

Crimson coach Peter Felske was forced to leave the bulk of his talented team at Harvard and travel with only four players to enter the tournament's three draws. Depth, as it turned out was not a factor in the championships, as Felske got stellar performances from all four of his players.

Seeded first in the number one singles draw. Bougas hardly broke a sweat as she demoralized Sue Power of Southeastern Massachusetts University, 6-1, 6-0, in the first round and stopped Ellen Jacobs of Tufts in a bit tougher match, 6-1, 6-1.

Bougas received her toughest challenge to date in the finals yesterday, as Jean Osachuk, the second seed from Mt. Holyoke, put up a stiff fight before falling 7-5, 6-2. Leading 5-2 in that first set, Bougas allowed Osachuk to knot the score at 5-5 before taking the next two games and the set.

"I lost my concentration there in that first set, and I didn't play as tight. I made too many unforced errors," she said yesterday.

Bougas regained her concentration in the second set, and her flawless deep baseline strokes took the match and with it her state championship.

In the other singles draw, junior Meg Meyer cruised to the finals of her bracket Saturday, only to find the going a bit rougher Sunday.

Meyer crushed Linda Turner of Bridgewater State, 6-1, 6-0, and a tough Michele Rosen of Tufts, 6-2, 6-2, Saturday.

However, on Sunday she met her nemisis from Boston University. Joanna Sleeper and lost 2-6, 3-6, in replay of last week's GBC second singles final.

"It was about the same type of match as last week. Sleeper was just playing better today than she did last week," Meyer said yesterday.

In the doubles final, Martha Roberts teamed up with Debbie Kalish to take that crown, stopping Shirley Holmes and Ida Tarbell of Smith, 6-7, 6-2, 7-5. They had reached the championships with easy 6-1, 6-0, and 6-0, 6-2 victories over Springfield and Boston College Saturday.

"We had our ups and downs in that last match," Kalish said yesterday. "In the second set we got together and were placing the ball in the right spot."

The Roberts-Kalish combo punished Smith with a strong net game by taking advantage of her weak second service.

THE NOTEBOOK: On hand to watch the weekend's matches was Fran Jennings, a Radcliffe tennis champion of the '20s. The USTA recently gave her its National Community Award for contributing to the teaching of tennis among the underprivileged