Mike Strong '05 defeated his opponent in the number two spot in four sets (9-6, 3-9, 9-4, 9-6). In the fourth spot, Nick Haslett '06 went undefeated to win handily in three sets (9-2, 10-8, 9-6). Stuart Landesberg '07 won in the seventh slot, coming back to win three straight sets after falling in his first (5-9, 10-8, 9-5, 9-7). Co-captain Asad Haque '04 and Brian Lawrence '05 rounded out the victors for Amherst with three-set wins in the eighth and ninth spots, respectively.
Gifford Sommerkamp '05, Auloke Mathur '07, Tyler Mixter '06 and Peter Hatfield '07 lost their matches despite hard-fought efforts. Mixter showed impressive resilience, forcing his fifth-spot match into the maximum five sets.
The Jeffs had a busy Interterm, playing six matches between Jan. 14 and Jan. 25 after having spent seven days training in Dublin, Ireland. The team woke up at 7:00 a.m. each day to train for two-and-a-half hours. At night they played various club and college teams from the area.
Amherst's four losses came against teams ranked nationally in the top-10. Dartmouth College, University of Pennsylvania and Brown and Cornell Universities are ranked eighth, seventh, ninth and fifth, respectively.
Though he wouldn't call the results disappointing, Sommerkamp noted that the losing margin was "higher than in past years." The only Amherst players to pull out individual wins in these matches were Landesberg and Mathur, who posted victories in their matches against Brown.
On Wednesday, Jan. 21, Amherst won its first match of the season against 22nd-ranked MIT. The Jeffs swept the Engineers, 9-0, dropping only one game. Sommerkamp and Haslett yielded only eight points apiece in their three-set victories in the one-two spots (9-1, 9-4, 9-3 and 9-2, 9-6, 9-0, respectively). In the third slot, Mathur gave his opponent a mere two points (9-1, 9-0, 9-1). Mixter, Hatfield, Landesberg and Lawrence dominated the four through seven spots in similar fashion. Andrew Merle '04 played well in the eight spot, winning in four games. In his season debut for the Jeffs, Edward Schleyer '06 did not relinquish a point (9-0, 9-0, 9-0).
The Jeffs take to the courts again on Saturday for a twinbill. At 10 a.m. they face St. Lawrence University and at 2 p.m. they go up against Vassar College. However, the real test for Amherst will come on Feb. 14 when the team faces 10th-ranked Williams College.
In order to prepare, the Jeffs have been training hard, "working more on physical training than strokes," said Sommerkamp.