Netmen Capture ECAC Title, Gain Spot in National Tourney

"Unbelievable" is how men's tennis Coach Dave Fish described this weekend's ECAC tournament in Princeton, N.J.

The netmen came from behind to defeat 15 teams and win a berth for the third straight year in the National Team Championships in Los Angeles next semester.

Harvard topped the field with 117 points, followed by Princeton with 109; Yale finished third. The entire tournament had to be played indoors due to a weekend of unrelenting rain.

In the A singles bracket, Harvard's top freshman prospect, Bill Stanley, trounced first-seeded Ted Farnsworth of Princeton before losing in the finals to Yale's Martin Wostenholme in three sets.

Seniors Dave Beckman and Sy Fountaine fared better as they won the B and C singles, respectively, Beckman in three sets, Fountaine in two.

In A doubles, Harvard's Larry Scott and Dave Clark lost in the semifinals to Yale's top pair, the eventual champs, 5-7, 6-4, 6-1. In B doubles, Beckman and Stanley lost to a pair from Brown in the second round, while in the C bracket, the netmen were more successful as Rob Loud and Darryl Laddin pulled out an exciting three-set victory against Princeton.

Going into the tournament, Fish was confident of his team's ability but knew the young and untested Crimson was only one of four teams canable of winning. The level of competition was very high and the netmen fell behind Princeton early. "But they refused to believe they would lose," he said.

Fish was especially pleased with the performance of Fountaine, who he said "did things that haven't been in this game before." Stanley, he added, played "remarkably--beating the sixth-seeded player in the country [Farnsworth]."

Fish said he "could sense the enthusiasm" of his team in its last major event before the Nationals and the spring season.