They may be hurting, but the Harvard tennis team put a 5-2 spanking on the University of west Virginia yesterday at the Beren Tennis Center.

Imagine you are the Boston Bruins and you still were able to defeat the Montreal Canadiens without both Ray Bourque and Cam Neely.

Well, that's pretty much what the Crimson (16-6 overall, 3-1 EITA) did to the Mountaineers.

Still missing two of its top players--sophomore Todd Meringoff and junior Andrew Rueb--Harvard hardly broke a sweat in wiping out a usually-tough West Virginia.

"It was a good win especially since we didn't have our full lineup," captain Marshall Burroughs said. "Even when you do have your full lineup, it is tough playing a team like that."

The contest didn't live up to is close expectations, as most of the Crimson's victories came in straight sets.

Burroughs whipped his opponent, 6-1 and 6-4, at number-one singles, while sophomore Daniel Chung (number-two), freshman Mitty Arnold (number-three) and freshman Martin Olsson (number-five), who moved into the starting lineup due to the injuries, picked up the other singles victories in straight sets.

"I didn't think I would be playing at this point in the season, but I kept practicing" Olsson said. "I thought we played really well as a team.

Burroughs/Arnold and sophomore Howard Kim and Chung won at doubles, giving the Crimson the one point for taking two out of the three doubles matches.

A big win against a national powerhouse is very important for a Crimson squad that was won five consecutive EITA titles, but who has already lost the EITA match (to Columbia) this year.

"Playing West Virginia is similar to going up against Princeton [a team Harvard tames, 5-2, this past Saturday]," Burroughs said. "We were just hoping to get a few of the singles."

Meringoff is practicing but is still suffering from a groin injury, while Rueb's knee is continuing to be a problem.

so Harvard will need to keep the whole team effort going as it heads down to New Haven to face its most hated rival Yale on Friday before facing Brown in Providence on Saturday.

"Yale is probably one of the top four teams that will be in the playoffs," Burroughs said. "It's their biggest match of the year."

'I can't wait to play."