Racquetmen Finish a Superb Year

It was a long but successful year.

It was the year that THE STREAK was supposed to be broken.

It was the year that Harvard's five-year stranglehold on the national nine-man and Ivy titles would end.

It was the year that the Princeton Tigers were supposed to roar past the Crimson.

But after it was all done and played, it was Harvard's year--again. The racquetmen captured their sixth straight nine-man and Ivy League titles and increased THE STREAK to 69 straight.

"It was a great season," Darius Pandole said. "The team came together after the five man tournament. Everybody put in a lot of hard work, which paid off later."

Harvard placed three players--Russ Ball, Jack Colbourne and Darius Pandole--on both the All-America and All-Ivy teams. Ball and Pandole were named to the All-America first team, while Colbourne was placed on the second squad.

Unlike the past five years, the Crimson had more than only one or two tough matches. The first match of the season almost ruined the Crimson's chances at a sixth straight national championship.

With five injuries, the Crimson sent a make-shift line up to take on Trinity. Harvard squeaked out a close 5-4 decision.

The Crimson then rolled over its next four opponents before The Match against Princeton. Harvard defeated Navy (8-1), MIT (8-1), Army (9-0) and Williams (9-0).

Harvard also captured its first five-man championship since 1986, when the squad defeated Mexico, 3-2, in the United States Squash Racquet Association finals. Harvard came back from 2-0 deficits against Yale in the semifinals and Mexico to claim the crown.

The racquetmen, slowed down by reading period and exams, were able to get in just one match--against Tufts--before The Match.

Fortunately, key Crimson players were coming back to play the Tigers. Jack Polsky returned to play his first match in 1 1/2 years, and Doug Lifford--who took the first semester off--came back for his first match of the year. Lifford and Polsky both won as the Crimson captured a 6-3 victory over Princeton.

Harvard coasted the rest of the season before its match against Yale on the last day of the season. The racquetmen recorded a 6-3 victory over Yale.

"It was a fun season," Jim Masland said. "We knew what we had to do and we did it."

The only thing Harvard did not do was win the MISRA six-man title, placing second in the six-man championship at Princeton. The Tigers triumph ended the Crimson's seven-year reign.

The season was a great accomplishment for Coach Dave Fish, who completed his 12th season at Harvard.

"He was my best teacher during my four years here," Pandole said. "He's the reason we've done so well; we've all improved because of him."