Netmen Fall Just Short of an Upset

Sure, it was California. And, yes, it was sunny. Extremely sunny.

But for the members of the Harvard men's tennis team, last week's excursion into sun-drenched California was anything but a vacation.

Competing in its first matches of the year, the Crimson did some quick adjusting to the outdoors, the sun and some tough luck against some of the nation's best teams.

And although the squad returned with a respectable 4-3 record, many of the players felt the road trip could have been a bit more successful.

"We did as expected," Captain Adam Beren said, adding that the squad couldn't post any surprising wins.

"We only beat the teams we were supposed to," Warren Grossman concurred. "We had no big wins."

Before meeting the tennis giants of Southern California, the racquetmen opened their season with a 7-2 thrashing of Northwestern.

A 6-3 loss to Cal-Irvine quickly evened the Crimson's then-young record at 1-1. An easy win over Tulsa followed by a loss to USC kept the team's mark at .500, as the Crimson prepared to meet perhaps the hardest blow of the trip, UCLA.

Howard Sands, Dave Beckman and Robbie Loud pulled off impressive victories, and Harvard found itself tied with the defending NCAA champions at the end of singles competition. The day after his only loss of the trip, Sands overpowered Bruin Danny Saltz in an ace-filled match, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.

Jeff Klaparda gave Beckman all he could handle at third singles. After Beckman gained the first set, 6-4. Klaparda caught fire to dominate the second set, 6-1. Down a service break in the final set. Beckman fought back to take the set, 7-5, and win the day's toughest match.

Loud didn't have such a tough fight, nailing Michael Kures, one of the nation's most highly recruited netmen, at fifth singles, 6-4, 6-0.

But Harvard's dreams of an upset soured in the doubles. Mark Basham and Barry Buss quickly downed Adam Beren and Larry Scott, 6-2, 7-6. The other two doubles matches looked promising for Harvard, but a controversial call quickly subdued the under-dogs' hopes.

A late fault call took the first set away from Warren Grossman and Loud, who failed to capitalize on three other set points en route to a 7-6 setback in the first set. Harvard took the second set, 7-5, but the Bruins claimed the third set after UCLA clinched the team competition with a 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 win at first doubles.

"Let's just say the match would have turned out very different if a few line calls would have gone our way," Sands said. "It was really pitiful. I think everyone has a sick feeling in their stomachs. I don't know anyone who's gotten over it," Sands added.

The Crimson was ranked 19th in the nation before the road trip. "We didn't do anything to help our ranking, but we didn't do anything to hurt it either," Sands said. "We beat San Diego for the first time in four years and we beat teams that Princeton has lost to. I think we're in pretty good shape," he concluded.