University of Virginia Library

Tennis Mark Perfect As
Red Raiders Topple, 8-1

By Hugh Antrim
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

Graced with good weather and a
partisan crowd Coach Gordon
Burris' troupe of netters squashed
the Colgate Red Raiders to up their

seasonal record to 4-0.

The Cavaliers swept to a 5-1
split in the singles competition and
turned what was billed as a very
tough match into a scrimmage in
preparation for the contest with
Harvard Friday afternoon. For two
consecutive days the Virginians
have posted big wins, and this time
it was the Red Raiders of Colgate
whose sunny Southern tour was
harshly interrupted at the Lady
Astor courts.

John Winter, playing superbly at
number four, was first from the
courts. Not even supposed to
compete because of two strained
Achilles' tendons, Winter polished
off Colgate's Jon Orenstein, 6-1,
6-2. Of considerable interest is the
fact that Winter's opponent had
won 22 straight matches.

Andy Sheinman upended Red
Raider Jack McGrory, 6-3, 6-2, to
continue in his winning ways at the
number three position and followed
Winter quickly off the court.

Holding down the number five
slot was hard-hitting Biff Cooper.
Tom Eder of Colgate closed the gap
in the second set, but Cooper's
aggressive play gained a 6-2, 8-6
decision.

Virginia, up to a 3-0 run in the
singles, was far from clinching the
match. Coach Burris was plainly
worried; Eikenberry, Podesta, and
Waterman had dropped the first set,
and a 3-3 split in the singles loomed
ominously. Mr. Burris remarked
with reference to the 7-2 drubbing
of Williams College, "Yesterday
everyone won except Eikenberry,
today it's another story." But such
was not to be the case.

Eikenberry began to boom in
the big serve and to intimidate his
opponent from the net. The results
were good enough for a 6-1 second
set score. Colgate's Bob Kulig
pulled the comeback short, and
Eikenberry spirited comeback
effort was pulled short 9-7 in the
third set. The outcome of the
match might indeed have been
different had Eikenberry not been
forced to play with a broken racket
string in the final set.

Jeff Podesta brought in the
Cavaliers' fourth victory of the day
at number two. Down 3-6 in the
first set, Podesta rallied 6-1, 6-2 for
the important win. The Virginia
second-year man utilized a strong
and accurate baseline game to
overcome a tiring Larry Blake in
taking the second and third sets.

The match clincher was Doug
Waterman's marathon win over
Steve Inbusch of the Red Raiders.
On the court at 2 in the afternoon
this weary couple wandered off
some two hours and fifty-five
minutes later, but not until
Waterman had chalked up a 4-6,
6-2, 6-4 decision assuring the
Cavalier netters of win four on the
season. Waterman was ahead 4-1 in
the last set and had to hold off a
Colgate rally to post the victory.

With the triumph in the bag,
Coach Burris appraised the situation,
"the greatest victory I've had
in three years." It was two years
ago that Colgate's Red Raiders had
reversed the 8-1 count on the
Cavaliers. Grateful of the size of the
gallery, Coach Burris declared that
the Harvard contest Friday afternoon
would prove equally as
exciting.

The Crimson of Harvard, partial
owners of the Ivy League Tennis
championship, visit the Lady Astor
courts Friday in what may be
Virginia's toughest competition to
date. Optimism reigns in the Charlottesville
camp.