The Crimson racquetmen, undefeated in their last 41 matches, routed an inexperienced Yale squad yesterday, 9-0, to clinch the Ivy title and the number one spot nationally.
Coach Jack Barnaby said yesterday that the match concluded his "most satisfying season." Praising his team's effort, the coach said, "We won the hard way this season. Every break was against us; men got sick and tough matches were away. Don't give me credit as a coach--give it to the team."
The win over Yale means that the Crimson will enter this weekend's tournament at Annapolis as the top seed and favored to repeat also as national six-man champs.
National collegiate singles champ Peter Briggs sailed by his Eli opponent Graham Ander, 3-0, to finish the season undefeated in league play.
Andy Wiegand had the toughest match of the day at the number two spot, narrowly capturing the first game and coming from behind in the last two to win finally, 3-1.
Reviewing the completed season, Barnaby said the trip to Navy was the crucial point for Harvard.
"Princeton wasn't that tough and Navy turned out to be the key--after those close matches that could have gone either way fell to us," he said.
The coach said that Harvard met its biggest challenge last Saturday at Penn, in which it came back from a 4-1 deficit to win, 5-4.
"We had our backs to the wall for almost an hour," Barnaby said. "Every man knew that if he lost we would lose the match. One of the teams was going to choke; luckily it was Penn. When it got down to it we were goddamn tough."
Barnaby said he wants badly to retain the national championship at Navy this weekend. "I got a trunkful of silver last year at Annapolis; I sure hope I can keep it all here," he said.
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