Racquetwomen Top Brown

Yesterday's 8-1 Harvard women's squash victory at Brown was particularly sweet for top-seeded Diana Staley.

After earning the Crimson's top slot as a freshman. Staley was hit by a truck while riding a bike in December 1981. The injuries she sustained in the accident kept her from playing until September of this year.

And back at the top, Staley found the early going tough. She dropped her first two big matches, to Sophie Porter of Dartmouth and then to Porter's sister Nina on Saturday at Trinity.

In her prep school days at Choate, Staley was the top seed and Jennifer Meagher played number two. So when the pair met yesterday. Staley could gauge just how far her comeback has progressed.

Clean Machine

Staley cleared up in three straight games

In all, the visitors claimed victories in each of the first eight slots. The rest of the top five matched her perfect score.

"We killed them," Staley said. "We were in much better shape; we were much faster. They just hit it hard and we were able to run it down.

The Crimson winners (in seeded order) besides Staley: Ingrid Boyum, Josie Iselin, Captain Betsy Howe (recovered from illness that kept her from playing against Trinity), Marty Winnick, Kate Dunham, Judy Hung and Juliet Larnont.

THE NOTEBOOK: This weekend Staley and Iselin travel to Princeton to take on the top seeds of other women's teams. The events should draw many of the best U.S. collegiate players. The rest of the squad travels to Bowdon Saturday to play the Polar Bears in the Crimson's last match before February.