Netmen Receive NCAA Tourney Bid

It may lack the experience of their predecessors, but the Harvard men's tennis team is once again heading south for post-season play.

After losing a sizable chunk of last year's squad, not many would have predicted a return trip to the NCAA Division I Championships for Harvard. But the Crimson (14-7) has surprised its followers this year, and its strong season has culminated in an invitation to the season-ending tournament.

Harvard was among the 20 teams selected by the Division I subcommittee and will face North Carolina (17-8) on May 14 at the University of Georgia.

Harvard is not a favorite in the tournament--the Crimson is not seeded--but it plans to make the most of the opportunity to participate in the oldest of all college championships (the first collegiate tennis championship was in 1883).

"We're pretty excited...we're not going to go down content on just being there," freshman Howard Kim said. "We got the bid and we're going to give it everything we've got."

North Carolina is a solid team who claimed a top 10 ranking earlier in the season, while Harvard is a dark horse in the tournament. Still, the Crimson is prepared to compensate for its inexperience with hunger.

"We're a hard-working team and we've over-achieved this year...we weren't even expected to win the East." Burroughs said.

Coach David Fish said his team has an "outside chance" to defeat the Tar Heels.

"We'll battle them as hard as we can and if we beat them, I think we can beat anyone" he said.

A win over North Carolina would mark Harvard's second consecutive advancement to the second round of the NCAA's (where they will face Southern California, the number-one seed).

Last year's team won its opener, but went no further. The '93 team is much younger in comparison, but Fish doesn't think Harvard's inexperience will be a factor.

"An older team can be too ripe," Fish said. "When you have a greener team, it means you're growing. That's the fun of it this year-we're growing."

Individuals

Harvard will also send players to compete in the NCAA's individual tournament.

Sophomore Andrew Rueb will be competing in singles play and the duo of junior Marshall Burroughs and Umesha Walloopillai will represent the Crimson in doubles.