Varsity Netmen Expect Tough Southern Swing

Fourteen tennis players and a coach will be seeking sun and Southern tennis about a week from today. Divided into two strong squads, the varsity tennis team heads for Virginia, North and South Carolina to play warm-up matches against country club and university teams in those states.

This year for the first time, Coach Jack Barnaby has beefed up the "B" team by giving it high-ranking players from the varsity. Doug Walter, third, and Keith Martin, fifth, will be playing one-two on the second team in the South. Behind them are Clark Woodbury, Tom James, Jim Gustafson, John Wild, and Mike Belknap.

Holding the top spot on the varsity and on the "A" team is Paul Sullivan. Sullivan is followed by Vic Niederhoffer, Frank Ripley, Gary Adelman, Bob Inman, John Vinton, and Sandy Walker.

"This is really the worst year to divide up our power," said Barnaby, because the Southern clubs are stronger than ever. "Frankly we don't expect to win, but the practice will do us a lot of good," he added. He has shifted Walter and Martin onto "B" team to give them tough matches.

After five matches, the two Harvard squads will reunite at West Point to play the first intercollegiate match. Even stronge this year despite the loss of Bob Bowditch, the Crimson will be heavily favored. In fact it will be favored right through the season until Princeton. The Tigers are so good this year that their last year's number one man, Drayton Nabers--undefeated in league play last year--has been supplanted on top by the best college tennis player in the East--Jim Fitzgibbon. And Nabers is fighting to hold second over Tom Lynch, another sophomore.

Thus, the Crimson isn't even thinking about the championship. The Yale match will be a more interesting speculation. Word has it that in New Haven, Charley Nealy has returned after a year off to displace Ralph Howe at number one. With Bob Hetherington at number three, however, the H-Y match will feature familiar squash figures--Sullivan, Niederhoffer, and Walter, and Yale's Howe and Hetherington.