Harvard's varsity squash team will open its season against Army this afternoon at 2 p. m. on the Hemenway courts. The Crimson, which has not lost a match in Cambridge in the past five years, should be slightly favored to beat a Cadet team that has been practicing without a full-time coach this fall.

Starting at number one for Harvard today will be junior Dave Fish, who moved up from number five on last year's team. Behind Fish are sophomore Pete Briggs, captain Ed Atwood, Jaime Gonzalez, Alan Quasha, Dan Gordon, Reg Foster, Lowell Pratt, and Andy Wiegand.

The squash ladder this year will probably fluctuate a great deal. "We have a very desirable thing," coach Jack Barnaby said. "The top three are all equally good and it's hard to say who is outstanding. The next three are very close, and then at the bottom we have a lot of players who are developing."

Balling

"The ladder will reflect who is developing fastest. It's going to ball all around, and I'm glad it's that way," Barnaby said.

The Crimson will also have the advantage of having four or five players who could step in at eight or nine on the ladder. "A team is very vulnerable if it can't replace players who come down with the flu bug. We'll have that added strength," Barnaby said.

Army squads usually feature a hard hitting, aggressive style of play. The Cadets will probably try to use their power and physical conditioning as an advantage.

But Cadet coach Bill Cullen left the Academy over the summer for Swarthmore's tennis team, and the Cadets were without experienced supervision earlier in the fall.

"I hope it's an advantage for us that they were without expert direction," Barnaby said. "If a coach doesn't mean anything, they better drop me and start winning."

Harvard must be considered an outside shot at the national title, a honor it has won the past three years. The Crimson must face strong Penn. Princeton and Navy squads all away fromhome. "Home court advantage is a 4 or 5 point difference in every game," Barnaby said.

The JV team will face a stiff challenge from Andover immediately following the varsity match. Andover defeated the Crimson freshman team last Wednesday, 4-3, and the JV squad will be without any of the top ten Harvard players facing Army.