For the men’s tennis team, the fall season was essentially an intensive training session for the grueling competition in the spring. “By the end of last year’s spring season,” said Head Coach Chris Garner, “the players realized what it would take to become a more competitive team. This year’s returning players are building upon that realization.”
The Jeffs also watched an influx of new talent and energy make an immediate impact in the lineup. Amherst split its roster into two squads over fall break to allow rookies to gain experience at the collegiate level and saw both groups achieve impressive results.
The Jeffs lost four seniors to graduation last year: Mike Mintz, Jeff Wan, Tal Avrahami and Geoff Schwartz. This year’s senior captain, Zachary Lerner, made special note of the loss of Mintz and Wan, saying that they were “two guys the team could always count on for big wins.” The 2008-09 squad, however, appears to be having little trouble filling the graduates’ shoes. The Jeffs have an overall team record of 4-0 for the fall season and showcased solid performances in tournament play.
The Jeffs started off the season at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s Tournament, hosted by Williams College. Lerner, an all-American in singles play for the past two years, led Amherst, advancing to the quarterfinals in both singles and doubles. Amherst’s No. 1 doubles pair of Lerner and sophomore Moritz Koenig lost to the eventual runner-up in the tournament, but they easily beat their competition in the next three matches.
“I am very excited about my doubles partnership with Moritz Koenig,” said Lerner. “We were able to win all three of our doubles matches during the road trip easily ... Doubles is something the team has struggled with the past few years, but if Moritz and I can maintain this level of play in the spring, we will certainly put the team in position to win the doubles point in all of our matches.”
While the top half of the lineup took on highly-ranked Johns Hopkins, Carnegie Mellon University and Kenyon over Fall Break, the more inexperienced half of the team competed in the Dartmouth Invitational and the Wallach Invite at Bates College. Transfer student Priit Gross ’11 had a standout performance, reaching the finals of the B-flight in singles. And for a large number of first-years, the Dartmouth Invite was their first opportunity to test themselves against college competition.
“Dartmouth was my first tournament, so it really opened my eyes to what Div. III tennis would be like,” said Austin Chafetz ’12, who posted one win and two losses in Flight 1 of the singles bracket.
Veteran players took the opportunity during their fall break road trip to sharpen their skills and match-playing strategies. Gross and Chafetz, two newcomers to the team, joined the veteran squad to compete against Johns Hopkins, Carnegie Mellon and Kenyon. The Jeffs earned decisive 6-3 victories over both Johns Hopkins and Carnegie Mellon, winning two doubles and four singles matches against each respective school.
Ranked 15th nationally, the Jeffs were able to upset 9th ranked Kenyon in their last stop of the Fall Break trip. Lerner and Koenig forced Kenyon’s No. 1 doubles pair of Mike Greenberg and Tomas Piskacek to finish with a donut, keeping their opponents from picking up a single game on the Jeffs’ way to an 8-0 win. Kim also helped tip the final score in the Jeffs’ favor with his singles play, winning his match in the third set to complete the upset.
The younger players on the team finished their fall season with a match versus Wesleyan. The Jeffs put on a show of strength and blanked the Cardinals, 6-0. Sophomores Tristan Biesecker and Tony Sheng were the only returning players who competed against Amherst’s Little Three rival, proving that Amherst possesses significant depth, despite its young base.
“Our wins this fall indicate what a talented group we have this year and I look forward to battling it out in the spring with the other NESCAC schools which have also improved significantly,” said Lerner. “I wouldn’t be shocked to see five or six NESCAC teams in the top-ten in the nation this year.”
The team, however, will not allow its perfect record of 4-0 to become a reason for complacence. Although its strong play in the fall will help the Jeffs’ national ranking—and hopefully earn Amherst a bid to the NCAA Tournament in May— the team is already looking forward to the NESCAC season in the spring.
“We will use our success this fall and the confidence we have developed in our games to practice hard and improve this off-season so that we can follow-up last year’s historic win over Williams in the NESCAC Tournament with another win in the regular season,” said Lerner.
The rookies are also excited for the upcoming spring season. “The guys on the team are great and I think we fostered good momentum going into the spring season,” said Robby Sorrel ’12.
Even during their brief fall season, the Jeffs gained an advantageous edge in their preparations for the spring. Rookies and veteran players alike had the opportunity to test their individual games, as well as their compatibility as doubles’ partners. On top of that, the fall season was a successful exercise in establishing strong team camaraderie. “With such a large team, each player’s energy, commitment and support is vital to having a successful day, whether it is practice or a match,” said Garner. “Every competitive athlete enjoys the opportunity to compete against the best and our players will have that opportunity this spring.”