Netmen Clip Virginia, 5-4, in Opener; Pompan and Two Freshmen Triumph

The men's tennis team opened its 1980 season with a narrow 5-4 victory over the University of Virginia yesterday in New Haven, Conn., repeating its triumph over the Cavaliers a year ago.

Junior Don Pompan, number one last year and number one again this season, started off the right way with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Adam Brock.

This will be the year of the youth movement among the netmen and leading the freshman task force will be Howard Sands of Los Angeles, Calif., at number two. Sands dropped his first intercollegiate match to Mike Einsidler, 6-2, 2-6, 7-6.

Another freshman playing singles, Howard Grossman of Great Neck, N.Y., adjusted to the unusual playing style of his opponent, sixth ranked Rodney Crowley, who serves lefty and his ground strokes righty, and came away a winner, 6-7, 6-3, 6-4.

And frosh Mike Terner recovered from second set shakiness to dispatch Geoff MacDonald, 6-3, 3-6, 6-0.

In addition to freshmen, Coach Dave Fish's squad also features sophomore Paul Lennon, a fringe varsity player last year who has made the big jump to number five. Lennon, however, met defeat in his first outing, 6-4, 6-4, to Brent Hendrick.

The squad's only starting senior, captain Bob Horne, moved to a workman-like 6-4, 7-5 triumph over John (not Kenneth) Galbraith, at number four.

In the doubles, Harvard took one of three events, Pompan and Sands defeating Galbraith and Einsidler, 3-6, 7-5, 6-0. The teams of Greg Kirsch and Grossman fell to Crowley and MacDonald in three sets, and Lennon and freshman Adam Beren lost in straight sets to Hendricks and Harlan Stone.