Men
Sunday’s match proved to be a thrilling contest. Middlebury College, currently ranked sixth nationally, provided especially tough competition for fifth-ranked Amherst.
The Jeffs’ doubles narrowly failed to capture the lead in the early rounds of the match. Captain Zach Lerner ’09 and Moritz Koenig ’11 were able to finish off their opponents 8-2 at the top of the doubles ladder, pulling off an impressive upset against David Farah and Andrew Thompson — the top-ranked doubles pair in the Northeast. At No. 2 doubles, however, Priit Gross ’11 and Austin Chafetz ’12 were unable to overcome their competition and dropped their match 5-8. As the third doubles pair for Amherst, first-years Andrew Jung and Wes Waterman played an extremely close match but failed to outplay the Panthers in the end (7-9).
In singles play, the courtside show-down took place. Recovering quickly from his doubles loss, Chafetz scored a point for the Jeffs with an impressive victory at No. 2 singles. His doubles partner Gross also pulled off a convincing win at the No. 5 spot. At the bottom of the singles lineup, Waterman took his opponent down in a second-set tiebreaker.
With the score tied at four points each, the outcome of the five-hour marathon match depended on Jung’s match against Alex Lee of Middlebury at No. 3 singles. Despite winning the first set 6-2, Jung could not stop Lee from gaining momentum after the Middlebury junior made a surprising comeback in the second set. Although Jung forced his opponent to earn every point, the Amherst rookie lost the match in three sets (6-2, 6-7(8), 5-7) and gave the Panthers the winning edge.
“Of course the loss to Middlebury was very disappointing, as we came so close to beating them for the first time since 2001,” said Koenig. “It is always disappointing when you lose a match after having had match points, especially if it is the deciding one. We came out on top the past two times when we beat Kenyon and Williams 5-4 and this loss might have just come at the right time for us. It shows us how close we are, but will give us additional motivation to work harder to beat them in the NESCAC tournament and to secure our spot in the national tournament.
The upcoming NESCAC Championships will offer the Jeffs another opportunity to challenge the Panthers. Other teams, however, will be vying for a chance to defeat Amherst in return. Koenig added that Amherst is likely to face Williams in the semifinals of the NESCAC Tournament, which will be held at Williams College. “It will be tough to play our archrival on their home courts,” said Koenig “especially as they are eager to rebound from two consecutive 5-4 losses, marking the first time Williams lost to us in over a decade. However, we feel prepared to take on any NESCAC school and are very optimistic heading into the tournament next weekend.”
Women
The women’s tennis team handed Middlebury College a decisive defeat on Saturday. Doubles play gave the Jeffs an early 2-1 lead in scoring, and singles wrapped up the day with five individual wins. The only loss in singles play came at the No. 1 spot. Junior Brittany Berckes had to concede her match against Tori Aiello of Middlebury and retired in the middle of the first set.
With Saturday’s 7-2 victory, the Jeffs finished their regular season with a 15-1 overall record (7-0 NESCAC). Amherst’s performance during the season also earned the team an uncontested bid as the No. 1 going into the NESCAC Championships.
Heading into the tournament as the team to beat, the Jeffs will face added pressure to perform well. And having been the only team to go undefeated in conference play this season, Amherst will undoubtedly meet teams with revenge on their minds.
“Following our win against Williams last week, we know that the NESCAC Tournament is going to be tough,” said senior tri-captain Anuja Ankola ’10E. “Williams is going to be looking for revenge. Regardless of whoever we play, we need to go hard every match until the end.”
Fellow senior tri-captain Tara Shabahang added, “In spite of our highly-motivated competition, I am confident we will pull out the win this weekend. No other team possesses the depth, heart, or fight that Amherst has displayed time and again this season.”
Despite the highly competitive nature of the postseason, women’s tennis team hopes to defend their title as four-time NESCAC Champions this weekend at Williams College.