In many ways, the fall season for the men's tennis team serves as a springboard to the rest of the year; the players have the chance to work out the kinks with new doubles partners, adjust to rookies and new coaches and feel out the competition in the NESCAC and around the region. According to those criteria, the fall season was a resounding success. Although there are no team results posted in the fall, the season gave the team time to build some unity.
While the Jeffs lost only two seniors from the Class of 2007 and returned their top four singles players, they faced a different sort of hurdle to overcome entering the fall slate: that of a new coach. Chris Garner, a former professional tennis player, held the position of assistant coach at Ohio State University the last two seasons, helping the Buckeyes to national rankings of fifth and third, respectively, before moving with his wife and two kids to the Pioneer Valley this year.
On the surface, Garner's jump from a top Div. I program to Amherst may appear surprising. In his words, however, "there is no difference [between the two divisions] except the size of the squad." Continuing with his best coach-speak, he added, "If you have a group of guys that want to work hard, improve and compete-that is all I can ask as a coach, whether it is Div. I, Div. II, or Div. III."
From the players' end, the transition was a little more difficult. "We had to make a transition to a completely new workout," explained co-captain Jeff Wan '08. "It was more individualized and Chris runs a different system in doubles that took a few weeks for us to learn. We are also playing more tennis each day and more sets."
The decision to increase the competition level within practices was a distinctly conscious one by Garner. Besides accomplishing the obvious of helping players get up to match speed more quickly, it is also, in Garner's eyes, one of the most effective ways to get to know his players. "I learn a lot about a person when they are competing," he acknowledged. "I also learn about them through their commitment to practice [and] playing tournaments."
Like anything new, it will likely take a year for the Jeffs to fully adjust to Garner's new system. The fall season included only one team event, a convincing 7-2 win over Salve Regina University in late September.
The rest of the season was spent improving individual play, something that should translate into team victories come spring. The Jeffs' most recent tournament, the ITA New England Championships at Williams College, involved a number of NESCAC battles, likely foreshadowing future spring clashes. All six Amherst singles players in attendance advanced out of the first round, and three survived until at least the third. Junior Zack Lerner was the most successful Jeff; holding the tournament's top seed, he advanced to the semifinals of the singles bracket, defeating teammate Tal Avrahami '08, Middlebury's Andrew Peters and Jeremy Weinberger of Williams in the process.
But Wan stops short of calling the tournament a complete success. "I felt everyone needed to win at least another round than they did. If we want an 80-percent chance to beat Williams, we're all going to have to be better."
Wan did see significant improvement from players this year, however, and was pleased by the play of the rookies. "I'm most impressed with Sean Doerfler," said Wan. "He's very consistent and can step in and hit the ball. He's quick for a big guy, he's got a good serve, and he can volley. He's kind of a space case, but what [first-years] aren't? He'll only get better as he gets older."
In the Jeffs' final event of the season, at the Wallach Invitational, Doerfler lived up to Wan's strong praise. Traveling to Bates College, the first-year and his teammates had a strong showing to end the fall season on a positive note.
Amherst was a force in the tournament even without some of its top talent. The team's number one player Zack Lerner '09, Geoff Schwartz '08 and sophomore Tristan Biesecker all were unable to play due to injury. Therefore, the players who did go to Bates had to step up and play in a higher flight.
Senior co-captain Mike Mintz had a coming out party in the singles A flight, reaching the finals. In his first round match Mintz blew by his Vassar opponent by a 6-0, 6-2 score. However, in the next round he had quite a tough match. After dropping the first set 4-6, Mintz came back to take the second set 6-4. The match came down to a super tiebreaker, in which Mintz prevailed 10-7. In the semifinals, Mintz played a very tough opponent in Bryan Brown of Colby College. Brown took the first set in a tiebreaker, but Mintz stormed back to take the next two sets 6-4 and 6-2 to reach the finals. After losing a close set 6-7 (3), Mintz lost the final set 6-1 to settle for runner up.
Wan was the other member of the Jeffs in the A flight and earned a bye in the first round and won in convincing fashion in the second, 6-3, 6-2. However in the quarterfinals he lost a close match 6-4, 7-5 to end his run.
In the B flight, Amherst sent two first-years. While Moritz Koenig '11 lost after a first round bye, Sean Doerfler established himself as one of the top first-year players in the NESCAC. Doerfler also received a bye, and essentially had another one in the second, walking all over his opponent in a 6-0, 6-0 victory.
The quarterfinal match was a little more of a challenge. It took a third set super tiebreaker for Doerfler to win 6-3, 4-6, (10-6). Doerfler had the advantage of having fresh legs, having the bye and a quick second round match. He was able to use this to his advantage in the final two rounds. In both the semi-final and finals match, Doerfler was a force, winning both matches 6-3, 6-2 for the B flight victory at Bates.
Overall, Coach Garner and the players appear to be on the same page in terms of team goals: the Jeffs want, as Garner put it, to "compete with the teams in the NESCAC." Wan's words, however, give away the urgency in the players' when it comes to beating Williams. "My goals for the team are to beat Williams and to make it to the quarterfinals or past in the NCAAs," professed Wan matter-of-factly. "Those would be two big firsts for this team in this new era, and I want to be a part of that."
If the fall season, then, is supposed to help players prepare for the matches that matter later on, it seems to have served its purpose. The team has begun to adjust to the new players, new practicing and conditioning routines and a new coach, all of which will be crucial factors in the spring. Although the fall season has come to a close, there is still much to be done in preparation for the season ahead.
As Wan explained, "I think we all got to see that we have a lot of work to do in this offseason, and so in my eyes, that's a small success right there."
While Garner, per NCAA rules, cannot be involved with the Jeffs' winter practices, captains Wan and Mintz plan to use the offseason to improve.
"[Coach Garner] and I have been talking about doing indoor practices over at Holyoke on some real tennis courts, because a lot of us feel the cage courts don't suffice," said Wan. "The Holyoke courts cost us time and money, but I believe we're willing to make sacrifices to get better."
His final words say it all, conveying the sense of urgency that exists among the players, their willingness to choose success over comfort: "It'll be worth it," Wan professed, "if we win in the end."