Netmen Trounce Penn State As Chaikovsky, Pompan Star

At the end of the 1978 spring season, last year's Crimson men's tennis captain Todd Lundy bet Penn State skipper Mark Darby that Harvard would beat the Nittany Lions, 7-2, this spring.

After Penn State beat Navy, 5-4, and the Crimson lost to the Midshipmen by an identical score last Friday, it looked as if Lundy would end up out of pocket.

But when Kevin Shaw and Scott Walker wrapped up a three-set, tie-break victory at number two doubles yesterday on Palmer Dixon's indoor courts, Darby's bank account suffered. Four singles triumphs and a sweep of the doubles matches gave Harvard precisely seven wins.

At the start the match looked like it-would be a Harvard walkover. The Crimson's number one, three and five players each crushed his opponent in two sets.

Don Pompan, the Crimson's number one player, mesmerized pigeon-toed Tim McAvoy, 6-1, 6-2, with aggressive net play, hard groundstrokes and passing shots and the occassional lob.

Home is Best

With three Crimson matches in the bag McAvoy sat on the sideline bemoaning the slow surface of Palmer Dixon's courts. "If this had been at Penn State it would have been a Close match," he said.

When Harvard's Andy Chaikovsky, Kevin Shaw and Dick Arnos lost their first sets at numbers two, four and six, respectively, it suddenly looked like it would be a close match anyway.

But then little big man Chaikovsky, sporting a new Jimmy Connors haircut, turned his match around.

Playing his most aggressive tennis since sustaining an injury that still forces him to put heat on his shoulder before matches and ice afterwards, Chaikovsky kept Eames off balance.

Pacing the ball with pinpoint accuracy, the Harvard senior mixed tenacious consistency with an occasional glorious crosscourt backhand winner. Even when Eames made repeated lob returns of Chaikovsky smashes, the Crimson number two refused to grow careless and pounded down more overheads until Eames finally netted the ball.

Winning the last two sets, 6-0, 6-2, Chaikovsky gave the Crimson a comfortable 4-2 margin in the singles. Shaw and Arnos dropped their matches.

Individuality

The two-game singles margin was merely icing on the cake since Harvard swept the doubles. Pompan and Chaikovsky at number one pasted Davidson and Schmucker, 6-2, 6-3. What coach Dave Fish called Chaikovsky's "playmaking" shots, complemented the fierce forehand and backhand winners of Pompan to leave Davidson and Schmucker almost helpless.

The Crimson battle Penn, the school that is always confused with Penn State by followers of collegiate sports, next Friday. If Harvard confuses them with Penn State, the Quakers could be in a great deal of trouble.

1 SINGLES-D. Pompan (H) def. T. McAvoy, 6-1, 6-2

2 SINGLES-A. Chaikovsky (H) def. N. Eames, 3-6, 6-0, 6-2.

3 SINGLES-B. Horne (H) def. B. Schilling, 6-2, 7-6, 5-3 tiebreaker.

4 SINGLES-A. Davidson (P) def. K. Shaw, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4.

5 SINGLES-G. Kirsch (H) def. B. Schmucker, 6-2, 6-2.

6 SINGLES-T. Beckhard (P) def. D. Arnos, 7-5, 6-2.

1 DOUBLES-Pompan and Chikovsky (H) def. Davidson and Schmucker, 6-2, 6-3.

2 DOUBLES-Walker and Shaw (H) def. McAvoy and Whiteside, 6-1, 4-6, 7-6, (5-0 Tiebreaker)

3 DOUBLES-Horne and Kirsh (H) def. Eames and Schilling, 7-6, (5-3 tiebreaker), 6-2.