Junior Michael Mintz injured his abdomen during last week's match against Trinity College and was unavailable to play in either of this past week's matches. Talented first-year Tristan Biesecker fell on his elbow earlier in the year and may miss the remainder of the season. Mintz, on the other hand, should be available to play as soon as next week. "Unlike Tristan, Mike is being a man and playing through the pain," observed teammate Jeff Wan '08. In addition to jumbling the singles line-up, the absence of Mintz and Biesecker has forced the team to shuffle its doubles squads.
The doubles immediately became an issue in the Jeffs' first match last week against NESCAC rival Colby College. The 27th-ranked Mules stormed out to a 3-0 lead after narrowly winning each of the doubles competitions. In the top doubles flight Zach Lerner '09 and Tal Avrahami '08 lost their pro-set in a tiebreaker 9-8 (6). The margin of victory in the second doubles match was only slightly larger, as Wan and junior Geoff Schwartz capitulated on their last service game to lose 9-7. In the third doubles flight senior co-captains Karti Subramanian and Jeff Lawrence lost by just one break, 8-6.
In a 3-0 hole, the Jeffs knew they would need one of their best singles performances of the year to pull out the victory. The lower portion of the lineup responded resoundingly, with Wan, Subramanian, Avrahami and Lawrence each winning their matches in straight sets. Avrahami's victory in the sixth spot in the lineup was especially clutch, as he was being called to play in the singles line-up for the first time in a major match this spring due to the injuries to Mintz and Biesecker.
In the second singles spot, however, the Jeffs' luck ended, as Schwartz was unable to pull out a win after dropping his first set in a close tiebreaker. With the score knotted at four-all, Lerner pulled out one of the biggest matches of the year thus far for the Jeffs, winning 6-1 in the third set of the top singles flight to seal the win for Amherst, 5-4.
After the hard-fought win against Colby, the team had a much easier go of it against New York University on Sunday, sweeping the match 9-0 without even dropping a set. Finally, it appeared as though the Jeffs had become comfortable with the fact that they would not be playing under the normal conditions they usually play in during the spring. The match even allowed the team to get some of its younger prospects some experience, as first-year Daniel Kim played both doubles and singles and was able to win both matches.
All three doubles teams stepped up and won their matches in impressive fashion and only gave up seven games in total. Right after the doubles were completed, Lerner, Wan and Kim quickly sealed the match with wins.
The Jeffs will be back in full swing next week with three matches, including two important NESCAC sets. Tomorrow the team will face Tufts University in a match that could have very significant implications for the team's chance at a NESCAC Tournament berth. "There is a small chance that we may not make the NES
CAC Tournament," said Wan. "If we beat Tufts we will definitely be in, but if we lose, it could be tight given how evenly matched the NESCAC is." On Friday, the team will have a breather with a less significant match against Springfield College, but will then have to face another NESCAC rival in Middlebury College, currently ranked third in the nation, on Saturday. "We look forward to the challenge of testing ourselves against one of the top-five teams in the country," said Wan. Both the Springfield and Middlebury matches will be at home for the Jeffs, but they will play Tufts in Medford, Mass. Be sure to check out as many of the team's matches as they continue the push for the post-season.
NESCAC Notes
This past weekend Williams College had much success with wins against Connecticut College and Wesleyan University. The Ephs' only conference loss was to Middlebury and they look to defeat Bowdoin College this weekend. For Middlebury, the trip to Maine added two wins to the Panthers' seven-match winning streak as they ousted Bowdoin and Bates College and remain undefeated in the NESCAC.