Netmen Blow By Cornell, 9-0

The Harvard men's tennis team completed its Johnny Vander Meer imitation Saturday, shutting out Cornell, 9-0, in Ithaca, N.Y.

The netmen (14-3 overall, 7-0 Eastern Intercollegiate Tennis Association) did not lose a set all weekend as they swept Army and Cornell, matching in their own way Vander Meer's back-to-back no-hitters for hte Cincinatti Reds in 1938.

A win by the Crimson in either of its final two EITA matches will guarentee it at least a share of the league title and a trip to the NCAAs--which start May 18.

Harvard has now won 10 matches in a row, has a 56-7 cumulative match record in its seven league campaigns.

Larry Scott was once again masterful at first singles, winning 6-4, 6-2 over Dave Meritt.

Bill Stanley breezed to a 6-3, 6-3 victory at second singles, while Dave Beckman blew past James Connell at number three, 6-2, 6-2.

Peter Palandjain, Arkie Engle, and Paul Palandjian all pitched in straight-sets singles wins for the visitors.

The squads decided to shorten the doubles part of the match by replacing the usual best-of-three sets format with 10-game pro sets.

Scott and Engle triumphed 10-6 at first doubles and Beckman and Paul Palandjian cruised to a 10-4 victory at the second spot.

The netmen's closest brush with defeat came at third doubles. Cornell's Connell and Paul Meehan took Peter Palandjian and Stanley to a tie-breaker and had several match points before the Crimson duo finally pulled out the final game, 12-10, in the tie-breaker, to earn a 10-9 triumph.

"I think that these matches have been easier [than the early-season ones]." Harvard Coach Dave Fish said, "but we're still getting work out of them."

Beckman, the team's only senior, said that this team is comparable to the other Crimson championship squads he has played on.

"As far as depth and ability, this team definitely rivals those other teams," the Co-Captain said, "and there is certainly a chance that this is the best--and we can still get better."

Harvard plays tomorrow at Dartmouth and then closes out its regular season with a tougher test May 8 at Princeton.