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Peter Blaiser Elected '74-75 Squash Captain, Number-Two Player Beaten Once This Year

The varsity squash team two weeks ago elected a "sleeper," junior Peter Blaiser, to be captain for 1974-75.

Blaiser, rated ninth in the collegiate ranks by the United States Squash Racquets Association, lost only one match at his number two position this year.

He lost a chance at a higher ranking when a schedule misreading caused him to sleep through and default his second round match at the National Intercollegiate Squash Championship three weeks ago.

Blaiser said yesterday he won't be a "rah-rah" captain. Squash, unlike team sports, is individualistic and self-motivating, he said.

The loss of seniors Glenn Whitman, Arch Gwathmey and Jim McDonald will hurt the team, especially because Penn and Princeton, the two other Ivy powerhouses, will be untouched by graduation, Blaiser said.

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Nevertheless, he said, Jack Barnaby's coaching ability made him unworried about the squad's future. "He not only builds up your squash but marks you with his own set of values," Blaiser said.

"Blaiser has made a vast improvement and is a fine team man," Barnaby said yesterday. "He will be my number one player until someone displaces him."

The sleeping incident angered Barnaby, Blaiser said. However, Blaiser said it was "mostly my fault."

"He didn't sleep through any match," Barnaby said. "They [tournament officials] were sloppy as hell in the way they put up his match time. We were in no way negligent," he said.

Barnaby said that he and Blaiser both believed from reading the schedule that the match was to be at 3 p.m. on court 1 and not the correct time of 1 p.m. on court 3.

The tournament committee last year passed an iron-clad rule that a player arriving more than 15 minutes late to a match would automatically forfeit, Barnaby said.

The tournament policy is to accept no excuses for match tardiness, Barnaby said. The coach added he doesn't believe in "leaping up and down and throwing a fit. We protested quietly."

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