The Harvard men's squash team defeated a strong Princeton squad, 7-2, to lay claim to its fourth consecutive number one national ranking Saturday at Hemenway Gym before 500 rowdy fans.

For the Crimson, which faced its most difficult challenge in four years, it was clearly a special win.

"This was perhaps the most satisfying victory in my nine years of coaching in terms of where the guys came from and the quality of the team they beat," Harvard Coach Dave Fish said.

Fish was not alone in his strong feelings about the victory.

"This was the most rewarding victory of my association with the team," Co-Captain Dave Segal, Harvard's number eight, said. "The other [past] three years, we were favored. This year, we were not. That makes it that much more sweet."

The match was surprising because of the ease with which the Crimson disposed of its highly-regarded opponents. The racquetmen ran off with the match by winning five of the first six contests completed. By the time Harvard's number one player, Kenton Jernigan, took court one for his long-awaited match with Princeton's Jeff Stanley, much of the overflow crowd had already left.

Several Crimson players put in outstanding individual efforts against players they were not expected to