Amherst decisively earned its number-11 ranking with wins over 12th-ranked Bates and 14th-ranked Bowdoin Colleges on Jan. 10 and 11, respectively but a 7-2 loss to 10th-ranked Brown University two weeks later prevented the Jeffs from cracking the top 10.
"We have not had any good upsets yet," said senior tri-captain Tyler Mixter. "We were hoping to beat Brown, and losing to them as badly as we did was really hard." Mixter and junior Stu Landesberg were the only two Jeffs to take individual matches from the Bears. However, two other Amherst players-first-year Drew Blacker at number one and junior Craig McCready at number eight-stretched their matches out to five games.
"We definitely had the potential to beat them, but came out just a little to flat on their courts and let them take the momentum," said Landesberg. "We should see them again in Nationals and there is no doubt that it will be a different match."
While failing to upset Brown was a low point for Amherst, there were also a number of highlights to Interterm play. The victories at Bates and Bowdoin were a positive way for Amherst to begin 2006, as the Jeffs traveled to Maine for two days of competition to face first the Bobcats and then the Polar Bears.
"[The Bobcats] are right below us in the rankings, so that is always a dangerous match," said Landesberg.
Indeed, Bates pulled out one four- and one five-game win en route to a 5-4 loss, in which the bottom of the Amherst ladder held steady. Landesberg and Mixter managed clutch, five-game victories at the six and eight spots, respectively, while rookies Blacker and Jerome Giovinazzo along with McCready won in three games apiece on the second, ninth and seventh courts. The closest individual match of the day-and perhaps the season-came from Landesberg, as he pulled out a 10-9 win in the fifth game to defeat Bobcat Chip Russell.
The next day's match at Bowdoin was slightly more relaxing for the Jeffs, and certainly for Landesberg, who won in straight games. Mixter, Blacker and Giovinazzo were also repeat victors, while sophomore Mark Rapidsarda won on the third court and first-year Gautam Kalani took his match on the fifth court to give Amherst a 6-3 win.
The fine play and improvement of the three rookies in the Jeff line-up was another source of encouragement over the break. In Friday's match against Cornell University, a 7-2 loss for Amherst to the number-seven Big Red, rookies Kalani and Giovinazzo were the only Jeffs to win their matches.
"The [first-years] have definitely been improving," said Mixter.
While it may seem difficult to find the positives in a 7-2 loss, the Cornell match proves that Amherst is hitting its stride at the right time. Five of the seven losses went to four or five games; by contrast, last year Amherst lost to Cornell 9-0 and stretched only three matches to more than three games. Last year at this junction, the Jeffs were 3-6 and ranked 14th in the country; this year they're ranked 11th and, after splitting a pair of matches against Hobart College and the University of Western Ontario on Saturday, own a record of 5-6.
"Our record does not reflect how much better this year's team is compared to the last two years," said Landesberg. "Williams and Nationals are the last two chances we will have to prove it. We have the potential to pull off some big wins, and hopefully everything will fall into place for Nationals."
This weekend Amherst travels to Wesleyan University for the Little Three Championships and a face-off with Williams. Then, just one match remains in the regular season, at Yale University on Feb. 15.
"I think everybody on the team would like to see us beat Williams, which is possible," said Mixter, "and then for the end of the season we should be shooting for the number-one spot in the second division." The second division is for teams ranked ninth through 16th in the country, and while Amherst isn't there yet, a victory on Saturday would certainly put all the pieces in place.