Netmen Demolish Dartmouth

Dartmouth College nearly surprised the Harvard men's tennis team yesterday.

After a 9-0 dunking of Navy on Wednesday, the netmen expected Dartmouth to provide an even easier contest. But due to some strong play by the Big Green, and some shifts in the Harvard lineup, the Crimson dropped two matches in its 7-2 victory.

"They sort of surprised us," third singles player Dave Beckman said. "I think we all expected to win, but they were a very strong team."

Beren Straits

But Harvard still overpowered the Big Green, despite damp court conditions. Even though Captain Adam Beren did not travel to Dartmouth and the lineup had to be shifted up, the Crimson lost only one singles and one doubles contest.

Freshman Larry Scott played Dartmouth's fourth seed, one ahead of his usual position. After taking the first set easily, 6-0, Scott fell behind in the second set, and his opponent took control, winning that, and the next set, 3-6, for the match.

When All-American Howard Sands played Dartmouth's Chris Robbins, he had an easier time, sweeping the match, 6-2, 6-1. He also got a bad ankle turn that kept him out of doubles play.

Holy Rollers

With two team members now missing--Sands and Beren--the second doubles pair played first. Scott, who was to have paired with Sands in first doubles, played with Beckman, and yesterday's fifth and sixth seeds, Bruce Diker and Sy Fountaine, played in third doubles. Harvard lost the third doubles contest, 6-2, 4-6, 1-6. "We were rolling," Diker said. "But each of us made a couple of errors, and then everything shifted. It all depends on concentration."

Dartmouth Coach John Kenfield said he felt the contest was a little lopsided because Harvard is such a strong team.

The Crimson will take on Penn St. today, a team Harvard downed, 9-0, last season. The netmen now have a 4-6 record.