Netman Torpedo Navy, 9-0

Toward the end of yesterday's match against Navy at the Palmer Dixon Courts, tennis team captain Bob Horne said, "I was sure that if we were psyched we could blow them out." The only thing was, before the match he really wasn't sure if they were.

He shouldn't have worried. As their performance showed, the netmen were psyched and they were definitely ready for the Midshipmen, shellacking them 9-0 in the Eastern League opener for both teams.

If such a thing is possible, the match was not even as close as the score indicates. Not one match went to three sets, as Don Pompan at number one led the squad to an easy victory.

The results were especially welcome and more than a little surprising, considering that this was nearly the same Navy squad that narrowly defeated the Crimson last year. The Middies lost only one player to graduation, while the netmen played with four newcomers in the top six.

Pompan's match against the Academy's number one player, Dave Andrews, was in some ways reminiscent, but a lot easier than the same match last year. In 1979, the match went three long sets, while yesterday the Crimson star made short work of his opponent, 6-2, 6-1.

Towards the beginning of the first set, it looked for Pompan as if this match would not be an easy one. In part, failure to compensate for his spin caused several early shots to land narrowly wide of the line. But any trouble was eminently temporary, and after Andrews narrowed the first set score to 3-2, Pompan met his opponent's power with his own impressive shot placing to record the easy win.

Playing at the same time on the middle court, Horne, at number four, defeated Curtis Dashiel easily in the first set, 6-0. The second set opened ominously and only got worse.

Before he knew it, Horne had dropped three three-all games and was down 4-1. He managed the most impressive comeback of the afternoon, and won the set 6-4 to clinch the match.

In the first set of matches, on court number three, Mike Terner defeated his number five counterpart from Annapolis 6-4, 6-0. Coach Dave Fish moved Terner down from the third position for the match. With Terner's win, the Crimson had a commanding 3-0 lead as the second set of matches started.

Number two player Howard Sands lived up to his label of "most composed player on the court," maintaining at least outward calm in outlasting Craig Morrison 6-3, 6-4. Although the scores were the closest of any of the afternoon's single's matches, the outcome was never really in doubt.

Fish praised Warren Grossman's play, noting that he was the most improved player on the squad. The yardling started the spring at number six, but then moved up to five, and finally came through yesterday at number three with an easy 6-1, 6-1 victory.

In the last singles match, Adam Beren cruised to a 6-3, 6-1 win over the Middie's Eric Giosa at number six. The six singles victories clinched the match. In the doubles competition, Harvard players fared equally as well. Sands and Pompan triumphed 7-6, 6-4, the Beren-Grossman duo won another tough match 7-6, 6-2, and the combination of senior Greg Kirsch and Terner won 6-2, 6-4.