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It was the last dual match of the season a match that made the Harvard men's squash team the Ivy League champion, but it could have bee the match that scoured an almost unbelievable season.
The national champion require thought back an upstart Yale squad, 7-2, Saturday at Hemanway Gym to close out a perfect 10-0 dual match season.
"Today we survived," Crimson Coach Dave fish said "We last a couple of games but women of our players haven't played a challenging match in a week and some still haven't really gotten any rest since Nationals [last weekend] They're done a great job.
Some recent changes in the Crimson lineup improved the Elis chance for an upset victory Harvard third seed Brad Desaulnters left the squad earlier last week for personal reasons and Richard Jack, the man slated to take his place couldn't get the trainer's approval to play.
So Co-Captain Geordie Lemmon filled in at number three two spots ahead of his usual seeding. And despite the fact that Peter Dineen was out all week with a shoulder injury he played number seven a position above his usual slot.
When national champ Kenton Jernigan took the court against Eli Will Carlin. Yale fans found something to cheer about as Carlin won the first game, 15-13, holding off a jernigan come back from 11-5. But Jernigan was just warning up. "I wasn't really into the match at first so I dropped a game," he said. "And he's a good player."
He took the next three games with little trouble as Carlin yieded to a more powerful Jernigan, who used a battery of shots to foil has more predictable opponent. Meanwhile on an adjacent court, teammate Jim Lubowitz battled Eli Scott Schumann. Three grueling games found Lubowitz on top 15-9,15-9, 15-5.
First seed David Boyum played Yale Captain Victor Wagner, who won the 1982 intercollegiate championship after downing Boyum to get to the finals. This tone, Wagner didn't have a chance. He spent the first game watching Boyum make some of his most etlective shots as Boyum make some of his most iterative shots as Boyum cruised to a 15-6 triumph. The second game wasn't much different a 15-9 decision for the Harvard leader. So in the third game. Boyum decided another lesson was in order, and won 15-4.
By the time Boyum was through, the Crimson had already won five individual matches and victory was secure. Team members moved from court to court, encouraging Co-Captains John Dinneen and Geordie Demmon, Peter Dinneen dropped their matches to two talented Eli racquetmen.
Yale Coach Steve Gurney praised his two winners "Freshman Hugh LaBossier is a very tough player," Gurney said. "To beat a player like Geordie Lemmon is certainly an achievement Certainly Mercer Bullard played well against Dinneen. I think his concentration was better than usual.
"But Harvard has what I would say is the strongest college team ever assembled in squash," Gurney added, "When the national champion is playing in the number two slot well that tells you what you're up against,"
The "strongest college team ever assembled" is now breaking up. Captains Dinneen and Lemmon have finished four year of squash. "This team wouldn't have met the challenges if it hadn't been for those guys leading them," Fish said.
Commented Spencer Brog, now three years on the squad. "The deference this year is that we really were a team. In an individual event like squash, that's rarely achieved. That was mostly due to our captains. They really made us a close knit unit."
The Crimson travels to Princeton this weekend for a post season tourney, the intercollegiate six man championship.
But at his last season's end, Co-Captain Dinneen says he is just feeling "relief Because you try and peak so many times in a season. This is the fourth time I've had to peak," He added. "But we've got one last thing to conquer that's Intercollegiate."
THE NOTEBOOK Bator played freshman squash and has managed the team the past three years, so he is another four year yet Jackson is a three time Gold metal winner for badminton in the Pan American Games John Dinneen had beaten his opponent Jett Kahle twice before, in his days at Deerfield against Choate.
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