NCAAs Still Jinx for Netmen As Georgia Triumphs, 6-3

The Harvard men's tennis team failed once again to win a match at the NCAA team championships in Athens, Ga. Saturday.

The 6-3 loss to the University of Georgia marked the fourth time in the last five years that the Crimson has lost in the first round of the 16-team tournament.

The setback ended a streak of 12 straight victories for the Crimson, which ended its season with a 16-4 mark.

The netmen qualified for the tournament by virtue of the Eastern Intercollegiate Tennis Association crown they clinched earlier this month. Harvard has never won a match in the NCAAs.

"We did a lot of things well," Harvard Coach Dave Fish said, "but we just didn't have enough" to beat the sixth needed Bulldogs.

The Crimson's cause was not helped by the several thousand partisans who filled Georgia's home stadium for the match.

"They had several thousand people behind them and they were pumped," Co-Captain Larry Scott said. "They were riding high, and they just flew through the match. A couple breaks didn't go our way."

The bad news for Harvard didn't stop there. Scott was forced to play his first singles match hindered by a torn or badly strained rotator cuff he injured during practice.

Worse still, his opponent was Mikael Pernfors, the second-ranked player in the country and defending national individual champion.

Nonetheless, the Cantab junior turned in an excellent performance, losing 6-4, 6-1 despite being unable to play his usual serve and volley game.

Harvard's lone victory--Georgia defaulted the second and third doubles matches after they clinched victory--was gained by Peter Palandjian at fourth singles.

The sophomore won a come-from-behind, 4-6, 6-1, 6-0 match against Deane Frey.

But the Bulldogs' strength--by no means confined to Pernfors--was too deep for the Crimson. Their second singles player, George Bezecny, is ranked 11th in the country and disposed of Dave Beckman, 6-0, 6-3.

In fact, Georgia is so deep that its sixth singles player, Tray Carter (a 6-2, 6-2 winner over Arkie Engle), defeated Beckman in the finals of the Princeton, Indoor Championships last February.

Bill Stanley nearly snagged a victory for the Crimson in his third singles match against Alan Miller. Stanley was up 5-3 in the first set, but eventually lost 7-6 (7-5 in the tie-breaker), 6-3.

"Billy was just a hair away from breaking the match open," Fish said.

Stanley--substituting for Scott--and Engle were also bested in a close first doubles match, 7-5, 7-5, and the Bulldogs defaulted the remaining two matches to bring the final tally to 6-3.

Several of the netmen will remain in Georgia through the week to compete in the individual championships. Scott, Beckman and Stanley will compete in the singles tournament while Scott and Engle will be in the doubles draw.

Both competitions will begin with preliminary rounds Wednesday and a full slate of opening round matches Thursday.

Scott is consulting with a number of area sports doctors and plans to "hit lightly" for the next couple of days in an effort to get in shape for the tourney.

"I'm going to play, no matter what," Scott said, "it's definitely the highlight of the year for me. I'll be out there even if I have to hit underhand serves."