Depth should not be a problem for the Jeffs as the team is returning all of their players from last year's squad, except for last year's number two singles player Brian Chin '03, who is studying abroad this year. Chin will be missed, but the Jeffs have a number of players who can compensate.
During their short, nontraditional fall season, the Jeffs went 1-2 with a win over Brandeis University and losses to Division I schools UMass-Amherst and the University of Hartford.
The fall schedule served as a warm-up for the spring season, which culminates over the weekend of April 26 during the NESCAC Men's Tennis Championship Tournament and perhaps later during the NCAAs, which will ultimately determine the success of this year's team.
Last year, Amherst finished fourth in the NESCACs and bowed out to Bowdoin College in the first round of the NCAAs. The Jeffs finished the season ranked 18th in the nation.
Amherst is led by senior co-captains Peter Ransmeier and David Wellner, as well as Bryan Wexler '02 and Adam Leibsohn '03. Other players expected to offer significant contributions are Andy Tsai '03, Rob Feeley '03, Andrew Merle '04, Andy Sagor '03 and George Tsai '02.
Wexler manned the number one position for the Jeffs last year and performed admirably enough to be named as a First-Team All-NESCAC selection.
Even though the Jeffs have many veterans on this year's team, Head Coach Peter Robson could still go in a number of different directions in the creation of his lineup. Amherst has a lot of depth this year and many of the players are playing at comparable levels.
Also, Ransmeier and Wellner are coming off of injuries and Leibsohn spent last semester abroad, so it may take Robson a while to figure out exactly where they fit in this year's lineup.
As for the members of the Class of 2005, Will Abbott was the only freshman to crack the top six singles slots for Amherst in the fall, but it is still too early to tell how big a role the freshman class will have to play on the team this season.
The team's training over the winter will go a long way in determining how much success Amherst will have during the important spring season.
"We were fortunate this winter in that we had a few practices outside earlier than usual," said Ransmeier. "As a team, we are working pretty hard. There's been an added emphasis on strength and endurance training in this preseason [when court time is scarce], over past years, which we hope will pay off in the long run."
This year, however, the team did not have a formal trip over spring break, though several players traveled down to Miami to practice with each other.
Key games for Amherst this season include an April 13 match at archrival Williams and an April 21 grudge match against Bowdoin.