Last weekend, the men's tennis team traveled to Williams College to compete in the inaugural NESCAC men's tennis championships. In the six flights of singles, the Jeffs managed to get five players into the semifinal round and one into the finals, earning them an impressive fourth place overall. "We were really pleased with the results this weekend," said number-four player Dave Wellner '02. "We came into the tournament ranked fifth in the NESCAC, and we finished ahead of every team we beat in the dual match format, which is sometimes hard to do in a tournament setting." Williams, Trinity and Bates Colleges were the only teams to finish ahead of the Jeffs, having also all defeated them in difficult dual matches during the season.

The Jeffs proved to be strong from the top of the ladder to the bottom. At number one singles, Bryan Wexler '02 reached the semis with an impressive win over Colby's Jason Bidwell, 6-2, 6-2. Number two Brian Chin, '03, number three Adam Leibsohn '03, number four Wellner and number five Andy Tsai '03 also reached the semifinals, with wins over difficult opponents from Colby, Bowdoin and Bates Colleges.

Rob Feeley '03 was the lone finalist for the Jeffs. Feeley plowed through the first two rounds of the number six draw with ease, defeating opponent Chris Peters from Connecticut College in the quarterfinals, 6-1, 6-4. He then took down Brett Carty of Bates, 7-5, 6-4, to make his way into the finals. Unfortunately, Feeley lost in the finals to Daniel Murray of Williams.

"We were all really impressed by Rob's play this weekend," said Leibsohn. "I think he far exceeded anyone's expectations of him and played with a lot of heart."

In doubles, the Jeffs were less successful. The number one-duo of Chin and Leibsohn were ousted in the first round by David Becker and Alex Wong of Wesleyan University in a tight three setter, 2-6, 7-5, 7-6 (5). Pete Ransmeier '02 and Tsai fared slightly better at number two, winning their first round against opponents from Conn and falling in the quarterfinals to Mike Braum and Tom Fitzgerald of Tufts University, 7-6, 7-6. At number three doubles, Andy Sagor '03 and Wellner made the semifinals, with a big win over George Brendell and Robby Lang of Tufts, 6-3, 6-3 in the quarterfinals.