Only three Amherst players made it past the first round of the championship. At the number two singles position, Max Rettig '05 defeated Wesleyan University's Darren Becker in a close match, winning 6-3, 2-6, 7-5. Rettig subsequently fell to Rifat Perahya of Tufts University in two sets.
The other Jeffs to advance to the quarterfinal (second) round were co-captain Brian Chin '03 and Jonathan Godsall '06. Both advanced in their singles matches as well as in the number two doubles slot. Chin beat Wesleyan's Matt Cron in three sets, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3. He then lost to Bowdoin College's Patrick Keneally in two sets. Godsall beat Connecticut College's Nick Raffel, 6-1, 6-3, before losing to Ben Alexander of Tufts in two sets.
In the number two doubles spot, Chin and Godsall defeated Raffel and Shaun Kempenich of Conn., 8-2. However, in the next round the pair lost by the same score to a Williams tandem of Lex Urban and John Haywood.
Filling out Amherst's lineup were Adam Leibsohn '03 playing number one singles and doubles, Arpan Podduturi '05 playing number three singles and first doubles and Will Abbott '05 at number four singles and third doubles.
The Jeffs could not step up their play for the tournament. The ninth-place finish marked the fifth straight loss for the team in a very challenging stretch of play that began with the number-one team in the nation, Williams, as well as matches against a strong University of Rochester squad and 12th-ranked Middlebury.
"Everyone played really hard even though we didn't do as well as we should have," Chin said.
Thursday's loss to MIT closed out Amherst's non-conference slate. The Engineers overwhelmed the Jeffs without dropping a set. At first singles, Leibsohn scored four games off of Evan Tindell to lose 6-4, 6-0. The rest of the Jeffs fared even worse, failing to take more than three points in their matches. The closest contest of the day came at first doubles, where Leibsohn and partner Josh Rilla '06 lost by only three points (8-5).
Amherst finished its season yesterday at Tufts University, losing 4-0. Though the spring proved unsatisfactory due to injuries, poor weather and subpar play, the team will look for further success in the 2003 season. They will certainly miss the leadership of seniors Leibsohn, Chin, Andy Sagor and co-captain Andy Tsai, but with a roster full of promising young players the future looks bright for the Jeffs. "We have a great bunch of guys and they should do well," Chin said.