The playground competitors would meet at Harvard under very different circumstances.

Lifford was recruited by several top squash schools, including Princeton and Harvard. Huerta was a non-recruit who was still playing squash as a hobby.

Lifford was able to crack a powerful varsity line-up at number eight, while Huerta was playing second from last on the JV team.

But Huerta moved up to number 16 during his sophomore year. It wasn't until his junior year that he played in some varsity matches and it wasn't until last year that the two realized that they had gone to elementary school together.

"I only knew him as Frank back then," Lifford says. "We weren't really friends."

While Huerta was trying to move up the ladder, Lifford thought it was time to get away from Boston. He spent six months at The University of South Wales in Australia.

It was fun," Lifford says. "I got in a lot of softball squash. But he had to get use to the easy let calls. He lost one match on all let points.

Doug's first match when he returned to Harvard was against Princeton. He defeated Jeff Finkle in four games, which clinched the victory for the Crimson. Not bad for a first match.

"Doug is like a wolf in lamb's clothing," Harvard Assistant Coach Jon Anz says. "As a civilian, he is kind and considerate. But on the court, he is a street fighter. With the gloves off and the knuckles bare--he is simply the very best."

"The best way to describe Doug is as Tysonistic," Polsky says. "He's a real fighter out there and he'll do anything to win that match. Doug's told us many stories of his childhood in Boston when he used to have to fight with kids to get into the lunchline, and Doug of course was always first served. I've seen him crawl, bite, scratch and do nameless other things just to come out with that `W.' In a nutshell, he's the street fighting kid we need on the team."

Huerta was struggling, but he was moving up the ladder. He finally made the varsity line-up during his junior year.

"It was both interesting and exciting," says Huerta, who played in four varsity matches, but missed the Princeton, F&M and Yale match. "I was right there, but I never quite got over the hump."

"They're like poets on the squash court--like [Lord] Byron and [Percy],Shelley and they're so different. They're like fire and ice. I feel like the team is somewhere in between--like lukewarm water," freshman Jeremy Fraiberg says.

"I like to think of Frank as a Jerboa, he's always quick to the ball and gets in and out of the corners real fast," Polsky says. "In one match I saw him dive for the ball 13 times, only to exit the court with bloody knees. He's always functioned marvelously as a role model.

Last spring, Huerta and Lifford were elected co-captains for the 1988-89 season. Both have gained respect from their teammates and coaches.