The women in white must be taking lessons from their gridiron counterparts, as on Saturday the Radcliffe tennis team opened their fall season with a little shellacking of their own over a hapless team from Bates, 4-1.

Denise Thal, playing at her customary number one spot, was uncustomarily beaten in three sets by her opponent; 4-6,6-4,6-4.

Sophomore Diana Olney at number two sliced her way through both her adversary and the "Scotch Fog" weather in convincing fashion, 6-1,6-2.

Most impressive, though, was the auspicious court debut of freshman Katie Dietzler. Playing in the number three singles slot, she won handily in straight sets, 6-4,6-3.

The racquetwomen swept both doubles matches in straight sets. The first team of sophomore Terry Clarke and junior Ann Kaufman sent its opponents back to Maine to hibernate for the winter by a 6-2, 6-2 route, and the second tandem of Janet Clark and Elizabeth Livingston triumphed also.

Captain Thal said the win demonstrated the team's awesome depth this season, for, "We played the match without three varsity players, who didn't get athletic clearance in time."

The squad takes on Colby this Tuesday at 3:00 down on the clay at Soldiers Field. However, the evidence from Saturday's mid-morning match, played amidst practicing marching bands, is that the Radcliffe tennis team is likewise tuning up for bigger things yet to come.