Harvard Racquetmen Deal Navy Lopsided Loss, 9-0

The Harvard squash team shut out Navy Saturday, 9-0, as the Midshipmen again failed to live up to their advance billing.

The victory stretched the racquetmen's four-year undefeated string to 44 matches and was the sixth straight over Navy.

Weak Navy Team

Navy fielded a far weaker team than it did last year, when it fell 7-2 to the Crimson. Number two man Peter Blasier said yesterday, "We really expected a lot more from them. We're a much improved team, but the big margin of victory was mostly a result of their weakness."

The Crimson won 27 of 28 games, as only number four man Dick Cashin had trouble with his opponent. Cashin won in four games, 15-11, 15-17, 18-14, 15-18. The Midshipmen have been in training for months and thus play a good running game, a style well-suited to combatting Cashin's hard shots.

Captain Glenn Whitman, playing at number one, totally confused Navy's Rod Smith and won handily, 15-11, 15-10, 15-6. Blasier played brilliantly at number two to overwhelm his opponent, 18-15, 15-9, 15-5.

Number six man Bill Kaplan, the first freshman ever to play varsity squash for Harvard, also played well, winning 15-5, 15-4, 15-6. "Bill has more shots than any freshman I've ever seen," number three man Archie Gwathmey said yesterday.

Also winning in straight games for Harvard were Gwathmey, Jeff Wiegand at five, Fred Fisher at seven, Jim McDonald at eight, and Cass Sunstein at nine.

The racquetmen now sport a 2-0 record with shutout victories over both Navy and Cornell. They have lost only one of 55 games in those matches.

The Crimson take on Amherst tomorrow and Army on Saturday, two easy opponents. The team will then enter its extended Christmas break, which may cause Harvard's sharp playing to suffer.