Last week, the Lord Jeffs posted an impressive 4-3 win over a Division I rival, the University of Hartford Hawks.
The Jeffs seemed to be overmatched in the early going as the Hawks swept all three doubles matches to win the doubles point. The University of Hartford team then went on to claim two singles points as first seed Danny Babkes '06 fell to Padja Zdrakovic 6-2, 6-1 and Adam Liebsohn '03 dropped the number three singles game 6-4, 6-2 to Jeff Hurlbert.
Down 0-3, a win looked bleak. But the Lord Jeffs pulled through in dramatic fashion, clinching four consecutive singles matches for a narrow 4-3 victory. Josh Rilla '06 continued his impressive rookie season by defeating the opposition 6-4, 6-3 at the number two position, while Amherst veteran and co-captain Andy Tsai '03 triumphed in a tough three set match, 6-2, 1-6, 6-3. Playing sixth in the line up, Max Rettig '05 crushed his opponent 6-1, 6-0. Fifth singles player Arpan Podduturi '05 also made a hefty contribution. Despite symptoms of dehydration and vomiting late in the second set, he hung on to a 6-2, 7-5 win for the team.
"We all fought really hard to win the last four singles points," said Podduturi. "Last year they beat us 4-3. We just wanted to zone in and play tough. It was really a gutsy performance from all of us."
The victory over the University of Hartford dropped the Hawks to a record of 0-2 on the season, while the Lord Jeffs advanced to 2-0.
Following Wednesday's climactic performance, the Amherst men's tennis team headed to Cambridge, Mass. for the New England Division III Omni Hotels/ITA Men's Tennis Championships hosted by MIT from Sept. 27-29. Although Amherst did not emerge from the competition with titles in hand, the Lord Jeffs delivered solid performances on the courts, amidst a field of strong competitors.
The doubles teams encountered tough competition early on. Co-captain Brian Chin '03 and seasoned veteran Leibsohn struggled against a fierce Middlebury team, falling 6-2, 6-3 in the first round.
The freshman dynamic duo of Babkes and Rilla were also eliminated early after posting a heart-wrenching 7-5, 7-5 loss to their Trinity competitors.
But the freshmen redeemed themselves in the singles competition, advancing to the quarterfinals. Both rookies dominated their opponents in the second round of play, as Babkes defeated his opponent 6-3, 6-2, and Rilla secured a 6-2, 6-2 win. Babkes later dropped his third round game 6-4, 6-0, while Rilla lost his in three sets 6-2, 6-7, 4-6.
"I don't think I played my best," said Babkes.
Rilla reflected upon the tournament with more optimism. "I played the best that I have so far this year," said Rilla. "I feel like I'm finally living up to the expectation of the team. It's a good way to start closing up the fall season."
Fellow Lord Jeffs Tsai and Leibsohn also displayed good effort. Tsai won his first match before yielding 1-6, 3-6 in the second round. Leibsohn also pulled out a first round victory, posting 6-4, 6-4 on the scoreboard. But like Tsai, he was defeated in the second round.