Advertisement

Crimson Tennis Squad Trounces Yale, 7-2; 16th Win Marks End of Successful Season

Ripley, Kileff, and Steele Excel

An injury-riddled Harvard tennis team lost two singles matches, but still had no difficulty disposing of Yale, 7-2, in the season's final dual meet.

In "Big Three" scoring, in which ten singles and five doubles matches are counted, Harvard came out ahead, 12-3.

The win closed out the team's season at 16-3-1, with only a 5-4 loss to Princeton marring the Eastern League record. The other two losses came when coach Jack Barnaby split his squad on the vacation trip south.

Frank Ripley, a top-calibre performer for Harvard for the last three seasons, closed out his dual-meet career with an easy 6-2, 6-3 win over Yale's Deuny Lynch in the number one match.

But Dave Benjamin at number two came up with a sore shoulder that hampered his game. Unable to serve or hit an overhead with power, he dropped a 6-2, 6-4 match to the Elis' Bob Archer.

Advertisement

Number five man Dean Peckham, bothered by a leg injury, dropped a 6-3, 6-4 decision to Kent Nelson for the Crimson's only other defeat. Clive Kileff at number three, Chum Steele, number four, and Bob Inman, number six, turned in quick straight-set victories. Inman, playing in his last match, turned in the day's quickest win, a 6-2, 6-1 mop-up job over Bob Dunlop.

The doubles matches, the team's strong point all season, went quickly despite the assorted injuries. Peckham and Steele teamed in the top match to belt Lynch and Don Christensen 6-2, 2-6, 6-2.

Ripley and Inman overpowered Archer and Dunlop, 6-2, 7-5, in the number two match, while Kileff and Benjamin topped Jim Westcott and Nelson, 7-5, 6-4.

Sweep Bottom Matches

The Crimson swept three of the four bottom-of-the-ladder singles matches and both doubles. Terry Robinson, captain Sandy Walker, and Tom James turned in three-set wins, before John Vinton lost to Don MacAusland, 7-5, 6-4, in the tenth match.

Vinton teamed with Vic Niederhoffer to win the number four doubles match from Bryce Appleton and MacAusland, 6-2, 6-4, while sophomores Tod Wilkinson and Rich Friedman drilled Chris Kenney and Jim Reynolds, 6-3, 6-1.

Recommended Articles

Advertisement