Babkes, captain Max Rettig '05 and Jeff Lawrence '07 were the only returning players on Amherst's ladder all season long. Sophomore transfer Lenny Lepner also had collegiate experience under his belt, but the other four members of Amherst's lineup were first-years. "To their credit, the first-years stepped up right away and make a big contribution to the team," said Rettig. Indeed, the class of 2008 dominated the season-opening ECAC Championship Sept. 17-19.
First-year Geoff Schwartz won the fourth singles title while his classmates Tal Avrahami and Jeffrey Wan teamed up to take the doubles crown. Fellow rookie Michael Mintz was the runner-up in the third singles category. The upperclassmen did not shirk responsibility, either, as Babkes, Lepner and Rettig took the first, second and fourth singles titles, respectively. Amherst won the tournament by a landslide, coming in 10.5 points ahead of the runners-up. It was the Jeffs' second ECAC title in as many years.
Amherst's ECAC success was no fluke. The Jeffs won all four of their dual matches with ease, dropping only one individual match in the process. Though the dual-match portion of the season was brief, taking place from Oct. 5-17, Amherst made the most of it.
On Oct. 5, the Jeffs hosted the then-undefeated Brandeis University Judges and came away with a 7-0 win. Just three days later, Amherst traveled to Rhode Island to face Roger Williams and Salve Regina Universities to pick up two more decisive victories. The Jeffs closed out the fall season on Oct. 17 with one more shutout victory over NESCAC opponent Colby College.
The outlook is good for the spring season. Though Rettig noted that the NESCAC is the best league in the country, he believes that Amherst will do some damage in the league. "I'm very confident that we can challenge even the best teams in the conference," said the team captain. "As always, we'll be looking for a bid to Nationals by finishing ranked in the top seven regionally, and I think our chances of doing that are excellent."