University of Virginia Library

Netters Win State Meet;
Swift Takes Singles Title

The Cavaliers staged an
in-house struggle for the singles
and doubles control of Virginia
collegiate tennis Saturday
much to the dismay of the
other state teams that troubled
to travel to Charlottesville.

Rick Swift, who was Coach
Jim Stephen's number three
singles man during the spring
edged number two Cavalier
Frank Hatten for the Virginia
Intercollegiate singles
championship, as pre favorites
were unable to hold their own.
Swift had earlier defeated Jim
Ratliff, Virginia's top player,
in the semifinals.

Throughout the
tournament, the University's
lower seeded players defeated
their supposed betters, an
occurrence which Stephens
explained as a manifestation of
his lineup's strong balance. "Of
my top four players, any one
can beat another on any given
day," said Stephens.

The trend continued in the
doubles finals as the Cavalier
duo of Hoyt Murray and partner
Hatten defeated teammates
Ratliff   and Rick Swift in
three sets, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4.
Murray-Hatten, last year's
titlist, played behind their
Saturday victims as the
season's second best
combination.

The tournament's format
consisted of three
brackets–the singles "A"
division, the singles "B"
division and the doubles. The
"A" was composed of each
team's top three seeded players
while the bottom three
competed in the "B" division.

Cavalier first-year man
Howie Hauptman defeated
Mike Ruffin of Hampton
Institute in straight sets in the

"B" finals, completing
Virginia's sweep of all three
tournament categories.

The strong showing
extended the Cavaliers'
unquestioned rule over state
tennis. The team was the
Intercollegiate defending
champion