Harvard's varsity fencers will face a well balanced Cornell squad at 2 p.m. today in the IAB.

With nine returning lettermen, the Big Red has seasoned performers in each . But only two are proven winners--Don Sieja, first team all-Ivy in epee; and Mike Marion, second team all-Ivy in sabre. Marion is the son of Harvard coach Edo Marion, and Sieja's father is Princeton coach Stanley Sieja.

Statistics

Coach Sieja's outfit, which topped Harvard, 15-12, also beat Cornell earlier in the season, 14-13. But last week the Big Red looked impressive against Columbia, losing 15-12 to the team which clobbered Harvard, 21-6. Cornell's only Ivy win was against Yale, the League doormat for the last few years.

Crimson junior Chuck Lovell, who in-jured his leg at Rutgers last week, may be back in action this afternoon.

Harvard will be seeking its first Ivy in after three losses. Elsewhere in the view undefeated Penn will host undefeated Columbia for the League title.

Harvard racquetmen will do battle with an upstart. Yale team seeking a share of the Crimson's Ivy League title at 2 p.m. today in Hemenway.

The Bulldogs have only one Ivy loss this year (6-3 to Penn, a team Harvard beat 5-4). A victory over the Crimson, which is undefeated in League play, would give Yale a tie for first place--capping what everyone first predicted would be a dismal season.

"We're expecting a real tough match," Harvard coach Jack Barnaby said yesterday. "Yale beat Princeton by the same score we did--6-3." The Crimson defeated Yale 6-3 in New Haven last year, and Barnaby predicts tomorrow's score will be the same.

"Yale plays standard college squash," Barnaby said. "They work for power and are satisfied to hit the ball flat. We have been concentrating on technical drills and execution, hoping to polish our control. Our players work to slice the ball, giving it a backspin and making it 'go dead' or drop on rebound."

"I know I'm the only coach in the Ivy League who considers control more important than speed, and we have had many arguments about it. Just say I'm a nut on racquetwork. I guess, but as long as we succeed we must be doing something right." Harvard has already cinched a share of its eighth Ivy title in the last nine years.

Barnaby thinks the Crimson will dominate Yale in the top positions. In fact, with an eye to next weekend's Intercollegiate Championships at Wesleyan, Barnaby said that "Anil Nayar and Jose Gonzalez can beat anyone."

The middle of Harvard's lineup has had difficulties in recent matches, losing 3-0 to Princeton Wednesday, but Barnaby will stick to the same order. "Princeton was the first match in which Gordie Black played beneath himself," he said, "and Matt Hall was greatly improved--he lost a darn tough match."

Former number-two man Rick Sterne will remain sidelined with an injury tomorrow, and Barnaby sees only a "very slight chance" for him to play in the Intercollegiates.