Netmen Overcome Yale, 5-4

It doesn't get any better that this.

Yesterday's match between the Harvard and Yale men's tennis teams came down to the third set of the last match of the afternoon.

With the match score tied at 4-4, the doubles team of freshmen Derek Brown and Albert Chang pulled out a 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 thriller over Yale's Cam Ragen and Rick Theobald.

The 5-4 victory gave Harvard (13-6 overall, 4-0 EITA) its first triumph over the Elis (14-8, 6-2) in three years. The Crimson had lost to them the previous two years by identical 5-4 margins.

The Crimson remains the only undefeated team in the EITA.

Go Ahead, Make My Day

"It's payback time," junior Roger Berry exulted. "We finally got to celebrate on our own courts against Yale."

Berry, who usually plays at the number-two singles position, sat out the singles competition with an elbow injury, forcing Harvard to readjust its lineup. However, freshman Mike Shyjan, playing up from his usual position at third singles, defeated Yale junior David Gollob, 7-6 (13-11), 6-2, in the number-two spot.

Both players had trouble holding their serves in the fast-paced first set, as the wind wreaked havoc with their shots. Although he is considered primarily an aggressive serve-and-volleyer, Shyjan exhibited solid groundstrokes yesterday, consistently nailing his passing shots.

Equally impressive was Shyjan's composure. After gaining a set point in the tiebreaker with a beautifully finessed crosscourt passing shot, Shyjan lost the next point when he hit the ball long. However, he responded by hitting a volley that Gollob could not handle to make the score 8-7.

"It was a close call which made it 7-7," Shyjan said. "Then I came right back and won the next point to go up, 8-7, which I was really excited about."

In his exuberance Shyjan emphatically slammed the ball back to his opponent's side of the court, earning a code violation (a loss of one point) for abuse of ball. Shyjan did not appear the least bit fazed, eventually wrapping up the set with a sharply-angled crosscourt return of serve. He cruised through the second set, winning the last four games.

At the sixth-singles spot, junior Robi Soni prevailed over Bill Featherston in straight sets, 7-5, 6-2. The third singles victory for the Crimson came at the number-four position when Chang, who usually plays at number-six, won both tiebreakers to defeat Rick Theobald, 7-6, 7-6.

Harvard's number-one singles player, freshman Michael Zimmerman succumbed in straight sets to last year's Rookie of the Year, Craig Kennedy, after dropping the tiebreaker in the first. At the number three spot Brown, who seemed to be having problems with both his timing and the wind, still managed to take a set before falling to Yale's Bill Sibold, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.

Double Decker

After dropping his singles match in straight sets, sophomore Jonathan Cardi teamed with Shyjan at number-two doubles to overpower Sibold and Kaplan, 6-3, 6-3, giving Harvard a 4-3 advantage in the team score.

Yale evened the score when Kennedy and Gollob rallied to take the first-doubles match from Zimmerman and Berry. The Harvard pair dominated the first set with a masterful display of volleying prowess, winning 6-1, but the duo dropped the next two sets, 6-4, 6-4.

All eyes were now on the number-three doubles match. The teams had split sets, and Brown and Chang were up a break at 2-1 in the third. But the Yale duo broke Chang's serve, and Theobald held to get back on serve, 4-3.

After Brown held his serve at love to even the game, 4-4, he and Chang again took the lead when they broke Ragen's serve. When Ragen's shot sailed long to give Harvard the match and the victory over Yale, the entire Crimson squad surged onto the court to celebrate.

"I am really happy to have come back and played well in a very important match after losing my singles match," Brown said. "I felt really comfortable playing with Albert because our games are very symbiotic."

Harvard Coach Dave Fish learned that winning does have its costs.

He was doused by a cooler-full of water in the waning sunlight of late afternoon-Soni doing the honors.

"We made Fish swim in water," Berry said.

"I am so ecstatic that we finally beat Yale," Soni added. "It's great how we really came together as a team to win it."

THE NOTEBOOK:Harvard puts its undefeated league record on the line when it hosts Brown today at 1 p.m. at the Beren Tennis Center.