The Harvard varsity netmen took an important step towards the Eastern Intercollegiate Tennis Association championship yesterday, eking out a hard-fought 5-4 decision over Yale in New Haven.

After splitting the singles matches 3-3, the contest between the Ivy League contenders narrowed down to the doubles. But here the Crimson quickly asserted its authority. Jim Levy and Gary Reiner, playing at number three, overpowered Eli captain Mike Acosta and Jim Kaufman, 6-1. The outcome was never in doubt. Playing at number one, Dan Waldman and Cliff Adler finished next, beating Jon Thomas and Cary Leeds, 6-4, 6-3 in a strong performance.

The final doubles match, meaningless by this time, went to the Bulldogs as Todd Lundy and Kevin Shaw fell to Geoff Tabin and Brad Dressler 7-6, 7-6 in a long, close match.

In the earlier singles matches, Harvard players succumbed to strong Eli net attack and a partisan crowd. In front of about 100 loud, emotional fans, captain and number one player Reiner dropped a three-set match 6-3, 1-6, 7-5 to Leeds.

At number two, Todd Lundy evened the score with a 6-3, 6-3 shellacking of Yale's Tabin. Lundy won the match on the strrength of his lobs which offset the Eli's strong net game.

Junior Dan Waldman lost a heart-breaker to Dressler at third singles, 6-2, 7-6. "I had two set points in the second set," he said. "But I missed the line on both by a quarter of an inch." Dressler won the second set on a single-game tie breaker after dominating the initial set with an overpowering serve.

Freshman Kevin Shaw met with similar results, losing a tight match to Thomas by twin 7-6 scores.

Harvard was down 3-1 when Jim Levy put the Crimson back into the contest with a resounding 6-1, 6-2 victory over Eli captain Acosta.

Freshman Andy Chaikovsky knotted the teams at three matches a piece with what coach Dave Fish labeled a "very clutch 7-6, 6-2 victory" over Yale's Kaufman.

Harvard's EITL ledger now stands at 2-1, and with a few more clutch performances, the Crimson might just topple Princeton from the top of the heap.