Squash: Women Nab Howe; Men Lose

At the end of the match the Harvard squash players scattered. Princeton had won, 5-4, when Rich Zabel came from way back in the last match of the day to beat Spencer Brog, and for the Crimson there was little solace.

John Dineen wandered Hemenway's wooden-floored corridor, shuffling aimless circles between lingering spectators, parents and once-annually squash groupies. Charlie Duffy, one of three seniors on the team, left the building to sit in the cold outside the door and talk of anything but squash with a non-squash friend. On the top echelon of Hemenway's ziggurst grandstands Jim Lubowitz simply sat, head bowed to the floor, hands on his face trying to wipe out the match's final result.

Innovative

Princeton's Zabel projected that robust look of salubriousness. Thick legs, big chest, curly hair, you picture him quaffing a glass of milk and striding about Princeton's hillocked campus, feet sandal-shorn and nostrils flaring to gulp in the spring air. His physical vigorousness translates into an intensely competitive spirit, and the first three and a half games of the two New Yorkers' match filled itself with innumerable let calls and questionings.

When Brog won the first game in a tiebreaker, and took a close second game as well, Harvard was one stanza from victory. Just less than a full game later, they were one shot away, the score in game three tied at 17. Zabel was the one to execute it, however, a skimmer off the front wall, just out of reach of Brog's straining racket in the front left corner.

From there on, Babel became the aggressor, where before it had been Brog. The Princeton junior broke from a 10-10 tie in game four to a 15-10 win, and continued to ride the momentum to a 15-7 victory in the final game.

Bumping Shoulders

As expected, Saturday's contest had turned into a trade-off between the Crimson's power elite at the top and the Tigers' inscrutable depth down low. Harvard boasted All-Americans as far down as number four. Princeton's line-up showcased a nationally third-ranked junior way down at number seven.

Given their depth, the visitors' strategy was to keep close enough to Harvard at the top so that they could win the match by sweeping the bottom. The strategy worked... but just barely.

Harvard won just about everything in the top spots (Geordie Lemmon suffered the lone loss among the Crimson's first five) and did it in a variety of ways. Dave Boyum completely dismantled Rob Hill at number one, 17-18, 15-8, 15-2, 15-4, behind three-wall boasts that dropped like play-dough in the front corners and uncanny maneuvering that reduced his opponent to befuddled head shaking.

Chip Robie ran a virtual repeat of his dramatic 1980 five-game win against Princeton's Jason Fish with a tie-breaking victory in the final set over Tiger co-captain Steve Loughran at number two.

Optimistic

And Mitch Reese reinforced the notion that he never loses big matches, smoothly outclassing Jamie Barrett for win at number four, while Charlie Duffy hung on at number five to upend another Tiger co-captain, Jon Moore.

Despite the example set for them by their higher-ups, Harvard's lower ranks were hard pressed to follow suit with victories. Princeton claimed wins at numbers seven, eight and nine. When Robie finally clinched his tiebreaker--"absolutely heroic," coach Dave Fish called the effort--only Brog's number six contest was still pending.

Harvard Men's Squash vs. Princeton

1. Boyum (H). def. Hill (P). 17-18, 15-8, 15-2, 15-4; Robie (H). def. Loughran (P). 9-15, 15-12, 15-9, 8-15, 18-16; 3. Shepherd (P). def. Lemmon (H). 15-10, 5-15, 15-5, 15-10; 4. Reese (H). def. Barrett (P). 16-15, 8-15, 15-13, 15-10; 5. Duffy (H). def. Moore (P). 15-3, 15-11, 12-15, 12-15, 15-8; 6. Zabel (P). def. Brog (H). 14-15, 12-15, 18-17, 15-11, 15-8; 7. Evnin (P). def. Dinneen (H). 15-8, 15-12, 17-16; 8. Sherry (P). def. Lubowitz (H). 15-7, 15-12, 11-15, 11-15, 15-6; 9. Fisher (P). def. Johnson (H). 14-16, 15-13, 15-7, 14-15, 15-11.