Considering the level of competition, the Jeffs played quite well. In the singles, only Jeff Wan '08 and rookie Daniel Gonzalez were able to advance out of the first round. In the 'C' singles flight, Wan was able to dispatch his first-round opponent from Div. I Hofstra University with relative ease, 6-4, 6-3. The next round however, he ran into first-year Andrew Lee of Middlebury, who was able to use his 6'4" height to serve his way out trouble to win 2-6, 6-0, 6-3.
Wan also teamed with senior Karti Subramanian to take a first-round match off a tandem from Stony Brook University before falling to a duo from host Cornell.
Gonzalez, one of the team's eight first-years, was the only other Jeff to win an opening-round match. After losing the first set to his opponent from the University of Maryland-Baltimore County, Gonzalez stormed back to take the next two by a score of 6-2, 6-1, for the convincing comeback. He lost in the next round to the eventual runner-up from Cornell.
Although there were only three first-round wins, the consolation brackets brought other bright spots. In the 'B' singles bracket first-years Tristan Biesecker and Daniel Kim both advanced to the quarterfinals of the consolation bracket. They succeeded despite playing in the second highest singles bracket in a tournament for mostly Div. I teams in their first real inter-collegiate competition. In addition to Gonzalez, Kim and Biesecker, Zach London, another first-year, also competed. Along with those four, Robert Abbey, Alex Kaufman, Ben Krause and Dave Ullman will also join the team as first-years. "It was very good to see the [first-years] compete," said Wan. "Tristan [Biesecker] and Daniel [Kim] were able to win matches at the 'B' flight against Div. I competition, which shows that they are very capable players."
Given the strong performance of the incoming recruiting class over the weekend, and the continued solid play from Zach Lerner '09 and Wan, the team is looking to be very successful this year. Last year's number-two starter, Lenny Lepner '07, is currently involved with eligibility discussions with the NCAA and may be available to play for the more crucial spring season. Juniors Geoffrey Schwartz and Michael Mintz will both return from a semester abroad in Australia to play for the team in the spring, and classmate Tal Avrahami is weighing a decision to return to Amherst in the spring or spend a second semester overseas.
Certainly the talent is there for the squad to achieve their two perennial goals: beat Williams College and finish ranked in the national top 10. The team's next competition will be against Salve Regina University at home, this Friday.
NESCAC Notes
The fall slate is typically pretty slow, and most NESCAC teams have not yet played any meaningful competition. The Jeffs did get a look at defending NESCAC Champion and Div. III national runner-up Middlebury over the weekend. Although the Panthers were slightly more successful, with three players advancing to the second round of the main draw, the Jeffs still drew positives from the comparison. "Although we performed worse than Middlebury this weekend, its important to remember that two of our top players were gone," said Wan. "After watching them play I think we are actually a more formidable team this year."