Women
Recovering from the close contests against Bowdoin College and Tufts University, the women proved their winning potential this past Friday. The Jeffs swept the Camels off the court, defeating their NESCAC competitor 9-0. Junior Brittany Berckes returned from the sidelines to pair up with Natasha Brown ’11 in No. 1 doubles and also played the top singles spot for the Jeffs. No Amherst player relinquished more than three games to their opponents, in either singles or doubles, in the impressive victory. Laken King ’11 and Mimi Bell ’11 were especially vigilant at the bottom of the singles ladder, earning two 6-0, 6-0 wins to clinch the shutout.
On Saturday, the women continued to show their dominance in the match against Wellesley College. The Blue Pride, currently ranked 19th in Div. III, was no contest for the winning momentum of the sixth-ranked Jeffs. Amherst dropped its lone match at the No. 1 doubles spot, with the Berckes/Brown pair showing considerable effort in taking five games from the eventual winners Mohona Siddique and Jacqueline Shen of Wellesley. The second and third doubles came away with solid wins. Notably, the third doubles pair of Jill Wexler ’10 and Laura Danzig ’12 showed synchronized teamwork in picking up an 8-0 victory.
Berckes and Brown were able to avenge their doubles loss by winning their singles matches. Despite a nail-bitingly close first set, Berckes kept Marie Watanabe of the Blue Pride from gaining an advantage and defeated her opponent in straight sets (7-6 [7-1], 6-4). Brown, as the No. 4 singles player for Amherst, took down Jennifer Schwarzkopf of Wellesley single-handedly with a score of 6-1, 6-2.
The women hope to defend their impressive win streak against Williams College. The Ephs handed the Jeffs their only loss of the season in the fall, but Amherst looks more than ready for a rematch.
Men
The men also made a clean sweep of Conn. College on Thursday, tallying another conference win. Rookie Robby Sorrel dropped only one game to the Camels’ Craig Stanton in his straight-set victory as the No. 5 singles player for the Jeffs (6-0, 6-1).
Showcasing the depth and talent of its squad, the men’s team gave some of their top players a break from the competition on Saturday but still earned a 8-1 win over NESCAC rival Hamilton College. Amherst’s young lineup stepped up to the challenge and dominated the Continentals.
First-year Surain Asokaraj led the Jeffs at No. 1 singles with a straightforward 6-2, 6-2 win against Gred Kreitzer of Hamilton. Sean Doerfler ’11 and Julian Camacho ’12, who paired up to play No. 1 doubles for Amherst, both defeated their singles opponents with panache. Doerfler faced some trouble with Mark Segal of the Continentals in the second set but finished off his opponent in a tiebreaker to claim the win. Camacho steamrolled his singles challenger 6-0, 6-0, not giving up a single game at the No. 3 singles spot.
Amherst’s doubles were less successful than its singles against Hamilton. Although Doerfler/Camacho easily won the top doubles match, Alex Gumport ’11 and Sorrel ’12 edged past their opponents in a close 9-8 (7-5) match at No. 2 doubles. Sheng and Asokaraj kept their competition on their toes until the end but could not manage to scrape together a win in the third doubles match, losing 9-7.
The 5-4 victory over Williams College was the highlight of the week for men’s tennis. In doubles, the Ephs managed to get an early 2-1 lead. The No. 1 doubles pair of senior captain Zack Lerner and Moritz Koenig ’11 took the first win for the Jeffs.
As its singles attempted to close the deficit, Amherst saw ups and downs throughout the rollercoaster of a match. First-years Austin Chafetz and Andrew Jung put Amherst ahead in the scoreboard, but the Ephs’ Rick Devlin defeated Koenig in a closely contested match at No. 3 singles. Lerner earned the Jeffs an advantage in singles by winning an epic three-set match at the top of the singles ladder. Despite suffering from cramps in the last two sets, Lerner came back from losing the first set 5-7 and clinched the match with solid scores of 6-3, 7-5. First-year Wes Waterman then concluded the day by taking a straight-set win at No. 6 singles.
Posting three wins over the week, the men’s team improves to 20-4 in its overall season record (4-0 NESCAC). The women also improved their overall record to 12-1 over the weekend (4-0 NESCAC). Amherst tennis returns to action on Saturday, with the women facing off against Williams College and the men against Trinity College.