The Jeffs will be led by seniors Josh Rilla and Danny Babkes, who play the first- and second-singles spots, respectively, for the team. Rilla is currently the 24th-ranked Div. III singles player in the country. Right behind the stellar duo is Lenny Lepner '07, an amazingly consistent shotmaker with a knack for wearing his opponents down. After the top three, the line-up is somewhat up for grabs. Michael Mintz '08 played the fourth spot most of last season. Geoff Schwartz '08 played well in the sixth spot, but will face challenges for his position from classmate Jeffrey Wan, first-year Zach Lerner and possibly Austin Moller '08-a top recruit whose playing time and effectiveness have been limited by a shoulder injury. No matter what the lineup turns out to be, however, the team should be stellar. Babkes, Lepner, Mintz and Schwartz all won their flights at the ECACs last year, as did the top doubles team of Wan and Tal Avrahami '08.
The Jeffs put their talent on display in the fall, going 3-0 in team matches, including a win over rival Colby College. In individual competition the Jeffs also fared well, taking the 'C' singles and 'B' doubles flights at the Wallach Invitational, thanks to Jon Godsall '06 and the Wan-Avrahami partnership.
Despite the team's talent and overall success last year, they were disappointed with a fifth-place NESCAC finish last season, as they believe they can compete with even the best teams in a conference that boasts six of the top 21 teams in the country and two of the top five. Second-ranked Middlebury College is favored to win the NESCAC and fifth-ranked Williams College is just behind. "We are playing some top-tier schools in the next few months and with a few key wins we could move into the top 10," said Wan. "Our overall goals for the year are to beat Williams and make the NCAAs, both of which I think are within reason."
As if that were not enough, Head Coach Rick Edelmann has also planned a difficult non-conference set, starting off with a Spring Break visit to top-ranked defending champion University of Santa-Cruz Banana Slugs, as well as 24th-ranked Chapman University. The Slugs have the country's number-one singles player, Matt Seeberger, who defeated Rilla in last year's NCAA singles round-of-16. "Seeberger is one of the toughest players I've ever had to face," said Rilla. "He is one of those kids if you show any weakness he will exploit it." The Jeffs remain unintimidated, however. Rilla has beaten nationally top-ranked singles players-including Middlebury's Brain Waldron last season-and the rest of the squad routinely plays members of the nation's best teams.
Amherst finished behind both Bates and Bowdoin Colleges in the NESCACs last year, but later beat Bowdoin in NCAA regionals before falling to Middlebury. This year the squad believes its ranking can climb even higher and the Jeffs hope to finish no lower than third in the NESCAC.
NESCAC Notes
The NESCAC is one of the, if not the, premier tennis conferences in the country. Middlebury is favored to win the conference and compete for its second national championship in three years, but Williams is not far behind. Amherst, Bates, Bowdoin and Trinity College are also all nationally ranked.