On Friday, Amherst was led by senior Jon Godsall and sophomore Tal Avrahami as each won 6-0, 6-0 at fifth and sixth singles, respectively. Danny Babkes '06 at first singles and Zach Lerner '09 at fourth singles also had one shut-out set apiece with identical 6-0, 6-2 scores. Second and third singles players Lenny Lepner '07 and Michael Mintz '08 had decisive wins as well, 6-1, 6-2 and 6-4, 6-2, respectively.
In addition to sweeping the Seahawks' singles lineup, the Jeffs claimed the doubles point. Lepner and sophomore Geoff Schwartz were victorious at first doubles while senior Josh Rilla and sophomore Austin Moller won convincingly at second doubles, 8-0. Babkes and Lerner took third doubles to complete the rout.
Friday's win was exciting, but the 17th-ranked Jeffs are treating it as a warm-up. "The win against Salve was expected; they've been improving over my four years here, but they've never quite been at our level," said Rilla. "The major excitement in the match was watching Zack Lerner, our new starting freshman, dominate in his first-ever college match with a couple dozen faithful fans cheering and waving posters from the sidelines."
Yesterday, the men's tennis team extended its undefeated streak with a 7-0 schooling of Brandeis. The Jeffs took the doubles point, winning two out of three matches. Rilla and Babkes teamed up at first doubles and defeated their Judge counterparts 8-1. Jeff Wan '08 and Avrahami posted an 8-3 win at third doubles. The only match the Jeffs dropped was at second doubles, where Godsall and Mintz fell 9-8.
Amherst laid down the law for the Judges in singles play, however. Rilla earned his second win of the day at first singles, winning 6-3, 6-0. Lepner followed suit in the number-two slot with a 6-1, 6-2 victory. It took Schwartz three sets to claim the third singles crown, but he prevailed 6-2, 4-6, 6-4. Moller's 4-6, 7-5, 10-4 win at fourth singles was even closer but still a victory. In senior Scott Bronner's first match of his career, he pulled out a 7-6, 6-2 victory at fifth singles, while Sam Maurey '08 won sixth singles 6-1, 6-1.
Though the whole team was victorious, Bronner's win was especially exciting for the Amherst squad. "Bronner is the Rudy of our team-he is all hustle, pure heart and the scrappiest player in the NESCAC," said Babkes. "[His victory] was uplifting for the whole team," added Godsall.
This ability to feed off each others' successes will be an advantage for the Jeffs this season. "It amazed me how quickly our team comraderie formed with the introduction of three new freshmen," said Rilla. They have already established a team bond that no amount of talent can form, and they have a lot of talent to boot.
The Jeffs are excited about their spot amongst the ranked teams in the nation. "Going from unranked to 17th in the nation in one season happened unexpectedly fast for us," said Rilla. "We have a new coach and a bunch of young starters that have really transformed this team over the last 12 months."
Amherst hopes that this new transformation will result in another bid to the NCAA Tournament in the spring. Since they haven't truly been tested yet this season it is hard to tell how much potential the Jeffs have. "Salve Regina is not a team after which we can objectively evaluate our performance and/or potential," said Lepner. "But this week's ITAs should give a better picture of our capabilities compared to the rest of NESCAC."
The Jeffs will try to use the momentum they gained this week as they move on to the more challenging Wilson/ITA New Englands Tournament, held at Williams College this weekend.