Squash Teams Cruise To Easy Victories

MEDFORD--Imagine if Duke played Harvard in basketball.

Ooops, they do.

Well, imagine if Miami football travelled to Cambridge to face the Crimson.

It would not be a pretty sight.

The Harvard-Tufts and Harvard- MIT squash matches are kind of like these no-contests, except yesterday Harvard did the dirty deed of annihilating its opponents.

With its lineup split between the Jumbos, the nation's 13th-ranked team, and the Engineers, the Crimson men's squash team (8-0 overall, 4-0 Ivy) still managed to crush both its local foes, 9-0. In fact, Harvard did not lose a single game all afternoon, notching a shutout tally of 54-0.

The racquetwomen (5-1 overall, 2-1 Ivy), last year's National Champions, enjoyed a little less success in their 8-1 victory over 12th-ranked Tufts (8-5). The lone loss went to junior Shannon Willey, who had never competed in a varsity match.

"I was nervous about playing varsity," Willey said. "I just didn't harness my energy properly and went out too hard in the beginning."

Willey won her first game, 18-16, but then dropped three consecutive contests.

Harvard's winning statistics surprise no one since the men, the top-ranked squad in the nation, and the 2nd-ranked women, have never lost a match and have rarely lost single games, to either Tufts or MIT

So, one might ask why Harvard goes up against Tufts or MIT, both of which lack the intense program Harvard has.

"We play because we have everything to gain and absolutely nothing to lose," Tufts Coach Bill Summer said. "Sure, some of our players are intimidated and embarassed. They think they look like fools when they play you guys. But most of them have fun out there."

Harvard Coach Steve Piltch cited tradition as a possible motive.

"They're a local team and there's a long history of play between us," Piltch said. "It gives some of our players who don't usually see varsity competition a chance to play and it gives our more experienced players a chance to enjoy the game."

This year, four of Tufts's men's players are seeing varsity competition for the first time, and when Tufts number-one seed Trip Navaro quit, the Harvard-Tufts matchup became even more lopsided.

"Our team is considerably weaker than last year," Summer said. "Our guys are all learning under fire on the courts against teams like Harvard."

Jumbos' racquetman Tom Berkman was put under fire by Tri-captain Raja Mahidhara in a game of speed squash extraordinaire. Mahidhara obliterated Berkman, 15-3, 15-2, and 15-4. Tins echoed throughout the court, providing a beautiful background melody to Mahidhara's methodical rails and Berkman's temperamental huffs and puffs.

Sophomore Jon Pratt's beautiful shots, always a fingernail above the tin, frustrated Andy Lisle, who lost his first game 15-3.

Third seed George Polsky cleared the courts in a jiffy. The senior, famous for his ability to fight to the bitter end, didn't even have a chance to show his tenacity. Polsky's speed and an innovative spin-around-shot easily outwitted Sophomore Tad Hogan's firm rails.

And speaking of innovative shots, sophomore Marty Clark had a nice between-the-legs ringer early into his match. Such an acrobatic beginning cost him toward the last game, however. Fatigue set in and he yielded 12 points to Marco Caicedo in the third game.

"The women have a more mature approach to the game," Summer said. "They just go out there with the attitude of 'Hey, I want to do the best I can.'"

Harvard sophomore Vanya Desai, back in force from a year-long hiatus, pocketed the only shutout game of the day. She beat Melissa MacGillivray, 15-0, in the third game of the set.

Harvard's Brooke Bailey deceived sophomore Abby Sloane time and time again with a bevy of reverse roll-corners and deep rails. Bailey allowed only two points in her final game.

And at first seed, Stephanie Clark didn't tire herself out defeating senior Louisa Terrell in three fast ones.

All in all, no one played the game of his or her life yesterday. But after last weekend's intense matches against Princeton and Penn, Harvard couldn't complain about the lighter competition.