Here at Amherst College, our tennis players learn more than serves and volleys during the course of their four years on the team. They learn things like sportsmanship, empathy and generosity. That’s how Jeff Wan—one of the team’s senior captains—explains the lone blemish in the Jeffs’ 8-1 victory over Tufts University on Sunday. “Seeing how all my teammates were in position to win their matches,” said Wan, “I intentionally lost mine as charity. Yeah, if anyone asks, that’s how it went down.” The victory allowed 18th-ranked Amherst to close out their regular season with a 9-8 record.
When the Tufts match started, it was not a sure thing that Wan would have room to be so benevolent. If the day before was to be any indication, Amherst was in no position to expect for things to go so smoothly. Granted, they were playing the eighth-ranked Middlebury College Panthers, not exactly an easy draw. The Panthers jumped out to an early 3-0 lead after the doubles play, and were able to put the match away with their depth. Although Amherst’s top two—Zach Lerner ’09 and Mike Mintz ’08—were able to dispatch of Middlebury’s top two, the rest of Middlebury’s lineup was too strong and they prevailed, 7-2.
Fortunately, the Jeffs came back strong against the Jumbos. Amherst’s doubles teams—a weakness all season—did their part to give the Jeffs an early lead. Amherst was able to take all three doubles matches, including an 8-0 win by Wan in tandem with fellow senior captain Mike Mintz. Up 3-0, the Jeffs did not relent in singles play, winning five of the six matches, with Wan’s altruism explaining the lone loss. Even he lost only barely, dropping a 10-point tiebreaker played in lieu of a third set.
The overall win was an important one, as it gave the Jeffs the sixth seed heading into the conference tournament. Pending the brackets being announced, Amherst will have a chance for redemption against either Middlebury, Williams or Trinity Colleges, although it’s no secret who the Jeffs would most like to see. “I hope we get another shot at Williams,” said Wan. “We would love nothing more than to get another chance to play them.” With any luck, they’ll get their chance.
To have a shot, however, the team still has a lot to work on. “In all seriousness, I take every loss seriously, we all do,” said Wan. “I don’t have much time left, but I will be working and improving all I can this week before NESCACs.” Last year the Jeffs were able to boost their ranking late in the year with an upset win over Trinity in the first round of the NESCACs to secure an NCAA Tournament berth. The team hopes that they can rekindle the magic again this year. If not, at least they’ll have their values.