Clemson Denies Netmen, Turns Back Visitors, 6-3

As with football, Clemson takes its tennis program seriously. Coach Chuck Kriese answers his phone. "Tiger Tennis," so you know from minute one that he means business. And seriousness has bred success for Clemson, as the squad's heady national ranking of sixth at tests.

All this did not bode well for Harvard which came into Clemson Saturday with high hopes following an exhilarating 5-4 win over tough South Carolina, a feat accomplished without the services of the Crimson's All American ace, Howard Sands.

Sands was back in his customary top spot for the Clemson match, but it did the netmen little good. Harvard dropped the top four singles contests as its hopes were summarily dashed by the Superior Tiger squad, 6-3.

Depth provided the only saving grace for the Crimson Number-five Dave Beckman, a freshman, whipped off a quick straight-set decision over Mark Harrington, and sophomore Rob Wheeler followed suit at sixth singles, defeating Mitch Mitchell, 7-5, 6-2.

Harvard's final win came at first doubles, with Sands teaming with Captain Adam Beren for a 6-3, 6-4 victory.

Sands and Beren were not as fortunate in singles play Paired against Clemson's Mark Dickson and Jean Degdunes, both among the top 20 college players in the nation, the Crimson due could manage only one set between them. In their defense, both Sands, and Beren were coming off of bouts with the flu, which forced them to miss valuable practice time last week.

Harvard's Warren Grossman (number three) and Alex Sever (number four) put up more resistance against their Tiger opponents, each extending their match to three sets before succumbing.

The netmen face a week of practice before squaring off against their first Ivy opponent of the young spring season. Columbia Harvard will travel to New York for the contest, and then journey to Penn on Saturday.

THE NOTEBOOK: Harvard's loss helped boost Clemson's record, which now stands at 22-9. The netmen's only freshman, Beckman got a promotion from the B team on the basis of a strong showing during the squad's western trip during spring break. He justified Coach Dave Fish's confidence in him with a solid performance against Clemson.