In Friday's match against the 14th-ranked Diplomats, the middle and bottom of the Jeff ladder earned the win for Amherst as the fourth and sixth through ninth players all won their contests. Nick Haslett '06, the highest-seeded Jeff to take his match, won in three games on the fourth court while co-captain Asad Haque '04, Peter Hatfield '07, co-captain Brian Lawrence '05 and Andrew Merle '04 won in the sixth through ninth spots, respectively. The pair of seniors fought through five-game matches to come out with victories, Haque coming back to win from two games down and Merle breaking a 2-2 tie with a 9-4 win in the fifth game.
In the semifinal match later that day, Hobart entered its second contest of the tournament against Amherst with the momentum going in its direction. The then-15th-ranked Statesmen had just upset the ninth-ranked Brown University Bears, 5-4. Though Amherst had bested Hobart on Jan. 25 by just one match, Hobart was on a roll in postseason play and the Statesmen took five of the top six matches to earn its second straight upset victory, 5-4.
Hatfield, Lawrence and Merle won in the seventh through ninth spots, respectively, while Mathur was the victor in the two spot, sweeping Prateek Patni (9-5, 9-1, 9-3). Hatfield and Lawrence also won handily in a mere three games apiece. Hatfield gave up only six points to Freddy Cook while Lawrence was even stingier, allowing Andy Conrad only one point in the first two games before handing him a 9-0 loss in the deciding game. Merle's win was the closest of the four as he beat Richard Reutter, 3-2. Merle lost the first two games before coming back to win three straight (6-9, 5-9, 9-6, 9-1, 9-4).
Four of Amherst's losses came in four-game matches. Strong won the third game in a 3-1 loss to Tejvir Rathore (9-2, 9-3, 6-9, 9-0). Gifford Sommerkamp '05 played four close games as well, in a match that could have gone either way, against Gavin Johnstone-Butcher (9-5 1-9 9-6 9-5). Haslett and Mixter each took a game as well in the loss, Haslett winning game three off Henry Clutsam and Mixter foiling Andrew Scott in the first game before dropping the next three.
"The Hobart loss was the most painful, because it would have given us top-10 and another shot at Williams," said Sommerkamp.
The men dropped another close one on Sunday against Bates as the Bobcats avenged a 6-3 loss from Feb. 7 with a narrow, 5-4 win over the Jeffs. Sommerkamp beat Jamie White at the three spot in four games, while the bottom third of the ladder accounted for the remainder of Jeff victories. Hatfield and Lawrence won in three games apiece in the seven and eight spots, respectively, while Merle pulled out a come-from-behind win at the ninth spot to defeat Ta Bhicharnchitr (8-10, 7-9, 9-0, 9-6, 9-6).
Merle, Lawrence and Hatfield were the only Jeffs to remain undefeated on the weekend, a feat especially impressive for Merle, who stepped into the ninth spot to fill the shoes of an ailing Stuart Landesberg '07.
"[Merle] stepped up to the challenge with three victories, all in five-set matches," said Sommerkamp. "Amherst fell just short of meeting our preseason goals of coming in the top-10 in the nation and beating Williams ... After losing three of the top five players to graduation, the team rebounded well to come in 12th."
The future looks bright for the Jeffs. Amherst returns eight of its top nine players for the 2004-05 season, including a trio of first-years with a full season of collegiate squash under their belts. Perhaps next season the Jeffs will earn the place in the top 10 that just barely eluded them this year.