Harvard's relaxed and confident tents team, already assured a share of the E.I.T.A. title, crushed all its opponents on the way to victory in the New England championships.
Edged for the team title by a single point in each of the past two years, the Crimson seemed fanatically determined to put this championship away as soon as possible. Harvard racketmen captured both the individual singles and doubles crowns, the team championship, and an incredible 38 out of a possible 40 points, 15 ahead of defending titlist Amherst.
"Collossal Sweep"
"It was a colossal sweep of the whole thing." said a proud coach jack Barnaby Sunday night. "We knew we had a good team, but nothing like the super juggernaut it turned out to be."
After Saturday's quarterfinal rounds, five of Harvard's six entires had advanced to the semifinals, and it was no longer a question of whether the Crimson would win the team title, but rather which Harvard man would win the singles.
Rocky Jarvis, the Harvard number two singles player clobbered Amherst's Rick Steketee, the Lord Jeff's top man and the tournament's third seed, in the semifinal round. 6-3, 6-3, and from that point, the singles became a Harvard practice session. Crimson captain John Levin whipped teammate Terry Oxford, who had played beautiful tennis all weekend, 6-1, 6-4 to gain the finals, then defeated Jarvis 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 to retain his individual singles title.
Crusaders Beaten
After a short rest, the two finalists took on Holy Cross' fresh doubles tandem of John Hughes and John Mayotte in the doubles final, ripped them in straight sets, 9-7, 6-2, and completed the slaughter.
The tournament victory alone would have avenged Harvard's loss last year to Amherst, but the Crimson was determined to dispatch the Lord Jeffs as quickly as possible through individual matches. Oxford upset Mike Pelletier, hailed as Amherst's up-and-coming sophomore in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Jarvis eliminated Steketee, and the Levin-Jarvis doubles tandem took both Lord Jeffs. "I can't say I didn't expect this," said Levin Sunday night," "but I'm almost ashamed at our being so ruthless."
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