Last season, Amherst fell 6-3 to Williams College in the semifinals of the College Squash Association (CSA) Team Championship after pulling out a hard-fought 5-4 victory over Bowdoin College in the first round. This season, Williams retains a ranking of number 10 in the nation. The Little Three Championship in Williamstown on Saturday, Feb. 14 will allow the Jeffs to attempt revenge against the Ephs.
"We're going to beat Williams and win the Little Three," said Head Coach Peter Robson.
Last season's number one player, Gifford Sommerkamp '05, returns to the courts, with classmate Michael Strong in the second spot. The pair has played at or near the top of Amherst's lineup for the past two seasons. Joining them are co-captains Asad Haque '04 and Brian Lawrence '05. The co-captains have a difficult task ahead of them, as the Jeffs graduated two-year co-captains Carlo Valdesolo '03 and John Holodnak '03. Valdesolo, Holodnak and classmate David Bauer will be difficult to replace both on and off the court, as the trio occupied the third, fourth and fifth spots for the Jeffs last season. Sommerkamp, Strong and Lawrence all spent this semester abroad and will rejoin the team over Interterm.
However, a group of talented underclassmen should keep Amherst in contention. Sophomores Nick Haslett and Tyler Mixter played in the six and nine spots, respectively, last season. Both should continue to contribute to Amherst's success by adopting more significant on-court roles.
In addition, a cast of six first-years will compete for playing time. They come to Amherst from as far away as India and South Africa and should make an impact in the upcoming season. Coach Robson pointed to Auloke Mathur '07 as one key newcomer. With 20 men on the roster competing for nine starting spots, competition will certainly be heated this season.
The Jeffs would like to move into a top-10 ranking, "hopefully top eight," said Robson, "so we can get into the first division" of the CSA Championship. Amherst plays many top-10 teams during the regular season, including Williams (10), Brown University (9), Dartmouth College (8), University of Pennsylvania (7) and Cornell University (5). Robson sees these as crucial matches.
Amherst opens its season during Interterm, with a home match on Jan. 14 against Dartmouth. By the time the rest of Amherst's students return to campus for second semester, the Jeffs will have played six matches.