The Return of Moses

The Brown Bruins will come storming into Hemenway Gym this afternoon to take on the Crimson racquetwomen. After routine wins over Tufts and Wesleyan, the racquetwomen will find out today if they have a shot at a first-or second-place national ranking.

There is, however, more to the Brown match than an early-season squash showdown. The Bruins are led by former Crimson coach Paul Moses, the man responsible for raising Harvard to national contention. Currently, Princeton stands far above the rest of the country, as Yale and Harvard struggle for the number-two spot and Brown scrambles just behind.

Two years ago, Moses watched his Crimson squad slide to third in the Ivies after dropping a disappointing home match, 5-2, to what some considered an inferior Yale squad. Athletic Director Jack Reardon attended the loss. A few days later, Moses was fired without a reason and without a replacement--the final surprise of the racquetwomen's most impressive and bizarre season ever.

Despite the loss of superstar Sarah Mleczko '80, the 1978-79 Crimson team shocked everyone with a legitimate run at the national title. But the season will also be remembered for the tragic death of number-two player Cynthia Stanton '82 in a plane crash, and for Moses' mysterious personal problems with the team.

Then-captain Jenny Stone '80 reportedly went to Reardon and asked him to get rid of Moses. The stories that emerged seemed incongruous; no one questioned Moses' ability as a coach. He said he thought his firing had been a "mistake," while Reardon refused to comment. No one would talk about the personality clashes that had plagued the team.

One incident several team members reluctantly recall was Moses' interrupting top-seeded Crimson racquetwoman Becky Tung's match at the national tournament. Other players still feel Moses got a raw deal, and almost all agree that he was remarkably dedicated.

The Department of Athletics eventually saved face by coaxing no less than Jack Barnaby--generally acknowledged as the greatest squash coach of all time--out of retirement. Often working with inexperienced players on the men's team, Barnaby consistently caught Yale and Princeton by surprise and led his deceiving rag-tag assemblages to a string of national championships.

Even at 68, he would be able to do the same for the women, it was reasoned. And indeed, Barnaby's unparalleled store of squash expertise has stood the present Hemenway-haunters in good stead, especially with the help of assistant coaches (this year Pris Prissy), who do on-court training.

But you can bet that Moses has not forgotten his unfortunate and unsettling experiences at Harvard. He will have his Bruin squad ferociously psyched for this afternoon's match, always a tight one anyway.

3 p.m., Hemenway Gym. Be there for the battle.