This past week was undoubtedly a smashing success for Amherst tennis. The women defeated two NESCAC rivals on Saturday and Sunday — volleying past Bates College 9-0 and edging out NESCAC rival Bowdoin College 5-4. On Tuesday, the women ended the week as a triple threat in the conference — taking a 5-4 win over Tufts University. The men’s team saw similar success in both of their matches on Saturday, overpowering Brandeis University 9-0 and toppling NESCAC competitor Bates College 8-1.
Women
Continuing the momentum of their seven-match winning streak, the Jeffs picked up their first conference victory on Saturday against Bates College. All three of Amherst doubles pairs picked up 8-1 wins to give the Jeffs a solid three-game lead, even before the singles players starting breaking a sweat. Carlissa King ’11 not only paired up with Natasha Brown ’11 at the No. 1 doubles spot (stepping in for Brittany Berckes ’10) but also played No. 1 singles for the first time this season. King defeated Caryn Benish of Bates in straight sets 6-1, 6-3. None of the Jeffs gave up more than three games in any of her individual matches. Brown ’11 finished her No. 3 singles match in record time, trouncing the Bobcats’ Meg Anderson 6-1, 6-1. Fellow sophomore Mimi Bell only conceded one game as the No. 5 singles player for Amherst, winning her match 6-0, 6-1.
On Sunday, the Jeffs nabbed their second conference win of the season against Bowdoin College. Amherst doubles struggled to step up on the court, allowing the Polar Bears to gain a 2-1 advantage initially. King and Brown lost the No. 1 doubles match by the slim margin of 9-7, while Jill Wexler ’10 and Laura Danzig ’12 lost at the No. 2 spot by the narrowest of margins (9-8, [7-5]). Wexler and Danzig kept the competition on their toes up to the last point, forcing Rachel Waldman and Charlotte Hitch of Bowdoin to play a tiebreaker. Senior tri-captain Anuja Ankola and Mimi Bell ’11, handedly acing their competition 8-1, earned the only match point for Amherst doubles at No. 3.
In singles play, King and Wexler at the top two spots were unable to overcome their opponents. The remaining players on the singles ladder were able to compensate for the losses and enabled the Jeffs to bounce back for a 5-4 victory.
The women held onto another 5-4 victory over Tufts University on Tuesday. King and Brown were unable to come through for the Jeffs against the Jumbos’ Meghan McCooey and Julia Browne, but the rest of the Amherst doubles pulled through to claim solid wins. While the top three singles players for Amherst suffered losses, the bottom of the singles lineup helped the Jeffs catapault past the Jumbos for the narrow-margin victory.
Men
Despite playing two matches back-to-back, the men’s tennis team steamrollered their competition on Saturday. The depth of the squad allowed for flexibility in the lineup without compromising the team’s winning potential. The No. 1 pair of senior captain Zach Lerner and Moritz Koenig ’11 led Amherst to sweep the doubles matches. Priit Gross ’11 and Austin Chafetz’12 at the No. 2 spot easily beat Mayur Kasetty and Seth Rogers of Brandeis University 8-1. The first-year duo of Wes Waterman and Andrew Jung teamed up to win the No. 3 match (8-1).
The Jeffs also dominated singles play. Sophomore Sean Doerfler, Dan Kim ’10 and Tony Sheng ’11 —playing the No. 3, 4 and 6 spots respectively — only relinquished one game to their opponents in their straight-set victories.
The Jeffs continued to build upon their winning momentum in their match against NESCAC rival Bates College. The Gross/Chafetz and Waterman/Jung doubles pairs won their matches without any mishaps.
Lerner and Koenig, however, faced a particularly tough matchup at top of the doubles ladder. Amherst’s No. 1 doubles pair are ranked 10th in Div. III while the Bobcats’ Ben Stein and Amrit Rupasinghe currently possess the No. 4 standing in national rankings. Lerner and Koenig nearly matched the high-ranked pair point for point, forcing the Bobcats to play out a tiebreaker for the win. The 9-8, [7-5] loss was the only match point the Jeffs surrendered to Bates.
Lerner, as the top singles player for Amherst, claimed revenge by defeating Stein in three sets. Chafetz trounced Rupasinghe at the No. 2 spot and kept the Bobcat scoreless (6-0, 6-0). Koenig played No. 3 singles — starting out with a 6-3 advantage, dropping the second set 1-6 but coming back with a solid 6-3 third set for a clean victory. The remaining singles matches added to the Jeffs’ win column, testifying to the men’s depth of talent and energy.
The men advance from this weekend with an overall record of 17-4 (4-0 in the NESCAC), and the women improve to 10-1 overall (3-0 in the NESCAC). Looking to continue their successes on the court, both Amherst tennis teams will face Conn. College next in the upcoming week.