Racquetmen '89: Stellar Even Without a National Title

1989 was the year that the Streak was broken.

1989 was the year that the Harvard men's squash team's six-year national championship reign came to an end.

1989 was Harvard Coach Dave Fish's last year.

1989 had its ups-and-downs, something the Crimson "dynasty" hasn't been accustomed to, but overall, it was another successful year for the program.

The Crimson shared the Ivy title with Yale and Princeton, but lost the regular season national championship by a tiebreaker procedure. Even though Harvard, Princeton and Yale all tied for first place in the regular-season, Yale won the national championship because of the tiebreaker--most games won in matches between the three teams.

Harvard's seventh straight Ivy title ties its own record set in the early 1960s.

Having lost five players from last year's team, including four of its top six players, the Crimson was picked to finish as low as fifth in the nation in some polls.

But under the leadership of Co-Captains Frank Huerta and Doug Lifford, and three talented freshmen, Harvard managed to stay competitive with Yale and Princeton.

And Harvard was able to share the Ivy title by beating previouslyundefeated Yale, 6-3, on February 22. It was the Crimson's 28th straight win over the Elis.

Lifford and junior Jon Bernheimer were both named to the All-Ivy and, for the first time in either player's career, the All-America teams.

Let's Start at the Beginning

The year started off with three 9-0 wins over Trinity, MIT and Williams. In January, the Crimson placed third in the United States Squash Racquets Association five-man tournament.

But on February 4, the Tigers recorded an 8-1 win over Harvard at Princeton, bringing the Crimson's 72-match winning streak to a crashing halt. The streak ranks as the second-longest run of consecutive victories in collegiate athletic history, right behind the UCLA men's basketball team's 88-game streak in the 1970s.

"The team had to taste the bittersweet taste of losing," Fish says. "You can't judge what type of effort you need without losing. It's like a figure skater who never falls. She's not trying hard enough to fall. I think that the team benefited from that loss."

At first, it looked as though the Crimson was out of the race for both Ivy and national championhips after the loss. But Harvard won its next five matches, including 7-2 and 6-3 wins over Franklin & Marshall and Penn, respectively.

After Yale destroyed Princeton, 7-2, the Elis were heavily favored to blast the Crimson. But Harvard clinched the Yale match by winning five of the first six matches, a feat that left the Eli players stunned.

"Looking at the results of our season, including the breaking of the streak and the loss of the national title, an objective observer would definitely conclude that it was a bad year for Harvard squash," freshman Johnny Kaye said. "But realistically, we had a good season considering we lost five of our top players. Congratulations to Yale on their national title, but beware next year."

For the first time ever, there was a post-season national nine-man tournament this year held at Yale. So, with each of the top three teams going undefeated at home, simple logic tells one that Yale would win the tournament.

The Elis defeated Harvard, 7-2, in the semifinals and then recorded a 6-3 win over Princeton to win the post-season national championship. Harvard finished third by beating Penn, 6-3.

"It was a lot of fun, even though we lost the national title by a quirky rule," Huerta said. "There are a lot of great guys on the team. We came up just a little bit short."

Happy as a What?

"How can I sum up five months of pure joy," Polsky said. "I'm as happy as a memora catching a ride on a shark. I'm as content about the year as the mantjac is coming home from a successful kill. It was a year full of joy and pain."

What's even more impressive about the squash team's season was that it was without the services of junior Jim Malsand, who missed the whole season because of a hamstring pull. Masland was projected to play in the top three for the Crimson.

Freshman Jeremy Fraiberg, who was hampered by a groin injury throughout the season, competed in only part of the schedule. Fraiberg was the number-one player on the team before the injury.

Next year, Fraiberg, Kaye, Farokh Pandole, Bernheimer, Jim Masland, Jon Masland, Seth Handy and a talented JV team return to lead the Crimson. Polsky will be taking the year off to study in Italy. Bernheimer and Jim Masland were named captains for the 1989-90 season.

"For all intents and purposes, we graduated six players, with Jim Masland missing the whole year," Fish says. "Despite a good group of freshmen, a huge experience was lost. It was a team that only Jack Barnaby could have led to a national championship. But we came close."

"It felt terrific to be a part of the streak," Fish said. "But you can't improve without losing. Despite an individual coach's ego, the sport is better off when a team doesn't win all the time."

In other words, it's okay to lose once every seven years.