In sport, there are two types of giants. The first is the figurative giant, the one who towers over his opponents. The second is the literal giant, the one who may or may not have size, but always has a knack for winning when it counts.

Junior squash player Pete Karlen is both.

With recent victories over No. 4 Lefike Ragontse of Trinity and No. 5 Zafrir Levy of Williams, the 6'2 Karlen has dethrowned some of the sport's top dogs and boldly inserted himself into the upper-eschelon of the collegiate tour.

In a sport where size doesn't necessarily equate to success, Karlen is using every inch of his frame to cover the court and every inch of his brain to outwit opponents. In front of an overflow crowd at Barnaby Courts this past Saturday, Karlen kept Trinity's Ragontse off balance with a mixture of power and finesse.

One of the keys to succeeding in this fast-paced sport, and one of the facets that make it so beautiful to watch, is mixing the tempo of play. Like a pitcher in baseball who follows the heater with the change-up, or the tailback in football who busts through the line on one play and dances to the outside on the next, the squash champion must employ a diverse and well-timed arsenal of shots and strategies.

Karlen has become adept at controlling the rhythm of his matches, alternating between rocket-like strokes and deftly crafted drop shots.

As chants of "Let's go Harvard" and "Here we go Pete" reverberated through the intimate facility at the Murr Center on Saturday, Karlen battled back from an early deficit to hand Ragontse his first-ever loss in dual match competition in grand fashion, a 3-0 sweep.

Although Harvard fell short as a team, succumbing to the defending national champions, 5-4, Karlen recognized that both he and his team had exceeded all expectations.