Amherst will look to unseat Williams and perhaps upset the sixth- through ninth-ranked teams in the country over the two-and-a-half month season, which finds Amherst facing a bevy of talented foes. While the Jeffs lost their numbers one, three and eight players to graduation, a strong first-year class and experienced upperclass talent should ensure that the class of 2005 is not too sorely missed.
According to Head Coach Peter Robson, five first-years will compete for spots on the nine-man ladder: Ben Bishop, Drew Blacker, Jerome Giovinazzo, Gautam Kalani and Brian Warner. New Jersey native Blacker, who was the 11th-ranked under-19 player in the country last year, will probably take the place of Michael Strong '05 on Amherst's first court.
Guiding this young contingent will be tri-captains Nick Haslett '06, Tyler Mixter '06 and Auloke Mathur '07. All three have been key components of the Amherst lineup since their arrival. Haslett posted some key victories at the four spot in the 2003-04 season, while Mixter has been a solid performer in the fifth and sixth spots for the past two years.
Mathur has consistently been one of Amherst's strongest players; he is ranked 53rd in the nation individually after a strong performance at the CSA Individual Championships at the end of last season. Peter Hatfield '07, Stuart Landesberg '07, Mark Rapisarda '08 and Andrew Slutsky '08 round out the returning starting lineup; Hatfield and Landesberg have two years of experience on the Jeff ladder while Rapisarda and Slutsky played fourth and ninth, respectively, as first-years. All of these players will face stiff competition from eager and talented members of the class of 2009.
The Jeffs open the season with two creampuff matches sandwiching a rather bitter pill: This evening's match against 34th-ranked Northeastern University and next Wednesday's match against 17th-ranked Tufts University will be quite different from Tuesday's contest against the perennially strong, top-ranked Trinity College squad. "The first few matches should be fairly easy, except for the Trinity match," said Robson. "That should be quite a tough match for us. It will be a good test for our players."
The schedule contains a few other tests. Following Tufts, Amherst faces Bates and Bowdoin Colleges, two teams ranked just behind the Jeffs at 12th and 14th, respectively. Over the course of the season, Amherst will face seven top-10 teams and seven teams ranked behind the Jeffs.
As always, the matches to win will come at the Little Three Championships, which take place at Wesleyan University on Feb. 4. The 26th-ranked hosts shouldn't pose much of a problem for the Jeffs, but a successful showdown with the 10th-ranked Ephs could mean not only a Little Three crown but also a spot in the top 10 and momentum heading into the postseason. Though Williams beat Amherst 9-0 last year, a number of players lost tough matches, and if the freshman class is as strong as promised and the returners remain consistent, the Jeffs have more than a passing shot at achieving their goal.