The Harvard tennis team travels to Brown today for its Ivy League opener, and while the Bruins are definitely underdogs, their resistance should be much more spirited than it has been in recent years.

Brown's hopes rest on three solid sophomores who have come up from last year's 10-1 freshman team. Dick Lay and Mike Powers, second-leading scorer on the hockey team, are the team's top singles players. Lay plays with co-captain Peter Guterman at first doubles, and Powers teams with sophomore Mike Kemper at second doubles.

"This could be a hell of a match," Brown sports information director Joe White said. "Our coach Jim Dougherty has been working really hard to get the team up to Ivy League standards. It would be a really great victory to beat Harvard."

Brown is 0-2 so far this season. They were shut out by Navy, 9-0, and lost to Penn, 6-3.

Harvard's lineup has changed slightly as a result of Randy Barnett's 6-1, 6-2 challenge match victory over Dick Berner. "Berner will definitely not be playing against Brown," coach Jack Barnaby said. "There are three or four candidates to fill in as Bill Washauer's doubles partner, though I'll probably go with Steve Kraft."

Berner. a freshman with sophomore standing whom Barnaby had been counting on heavily in his pre-season prognosis, may have a very hard time winning back a starting position. Barnett continues to be the most impressive newcomer and could very well move up from his number-four singles position in the coming weeks.

Unless the Brown match turns into a rout. Joe Cavanagh and Dave Fish will be playing first doubles, and Barnett and Peter Briggs will be the second pair.

On Saturday the tennis team will play Williams in a 1:30 p. m. home match.