Racquetwomen Nip UMass, 5-4

A hobbled women's tennis team edged UMass yesterday, 5-4, as the racquetwomen ended their fall season undefeated in dual matches.

Coach Peter Felske was forced to make several adjustments in his line-up to compensate for two key absences.

Captain Meg Meyer filled in at first singles for Tiina Bougas, who is still nursing a sore foot. Meyer lost to Barbara Mills, 2-6, 2-6, in what teammate Patty Vitale described as "really tough match." Abby Meiselman had more success in the second singles slot. She defeated Sarah Fryberger, 6-2, 6-0.

At third singles, Kris Mertz clobbered Lee Robb, 6-1, 6-1. Freshman Vitale, playing in her second varsity singles match, destroyed Joanne Vennochi, 6-1, 6-2 in the fourth singles slot. "A little on edge" before the match began, Vitale said she settled down quickly and had little trouble with Vennochi.

The Agony and the Ecstacy

The Patriots' Chris Carson slipped past Harvard's Rony Sebok, 4-6, 3-6, while Jackie Korrigan struggled to beat Helen Najarian, 4-6, 6-1, 6-3, in a thriller at sixth singles.

At second doubles, Miki Kagan and Sarah Nicholas lost to Fran Troy and Beth Goldberg 6-4, 4-6, 5-7, in the afternoon's most exciting match. Felske said Kagan and Nicholas played "pretty well, but they were a little tight at the beginning," adding, "the match see-sawed back and forth the whole way."

Felske defaulted third doubles when Janet Teltscher, who was to have played with Deirdre Wilde, fell ill just before the match. Martha Roberts and Debbie Kalish, the first doubles team, won their match against UMass three weeks ago under a special arrangement which allowed that match to qualify them for the Massachusetts State Championships.

The victory over UMass, the Crimson's fourth win this fall, "turned out closer than it probably should have been," Felske said, but he added that he was "still pleased with the results."

"The fall season enabled us to get to know our weaknesses," Felske said of a campaign which included wins at the Greater Boston and Mass. State Championships and a second-place finish in the New Englands. "We are stronger than we have ever been," Felske added with pride.

"It was a fitting way to end a good season," Vitale noted, adding that Felske "deserves a lot more credit than he gets for the team's success. He's really been great."