Men
The top three men on the Jeffs’ squad fell to their Husky opponents. However, though sophomores Steven Severson and Todd Lavine and first-year Charles Loesch-Quintin all lost to their Northeastern counterparts, these would be the only setbacks that the Jeffs would face. Junior Andrew Kriete, sophomore Matt Arnold and senior co-captain Lee Banta, the four through six spots in the lineup, ground out three wins and the bottom third of the lineup provided the only three sweeps to give the Jeffs a convincing win over the Huskies. In particular, senior co-captain Nicholas Kramer lauded out Kriete’s performance, saying, “Returning from a two-year hiatus and a prolonged journey of spiritual reflection and self-discovery, Kriete showed remarkable poise as he battled through to a 3-2 victory.” In addition, the dominating performances of seniors Saahil Sud, Nick Kramer and sophomore Zach Porges, who constituted the bottom three of the squad, made a big difference, carrying the team to its first victory of the season.
Women
The women also had a successful match, with the only two losses coming to first-years Chandler Lusardi and Ginny Wheeler, who were in the first and sixth spots, respectively. The match that Wheeler lost was particularly heartbreaking, as it went to the fifth set, which she lost by a score of 12-10. First-year Anna Piper also fought out a tough match, though she came out on the better side of her duel. Piper was well-matched by her opponent and gave up a game before finishing it off with a close 12-10 win in the fourth game. “Piper had a strenuous match,” said senior captain Hannah Merves. “It takes a lot of mental toughness to fight out a match like that.” First-year Sarah Nyirjesy also celebrated her first win as a Jeff, taking part in a victory that saw five Jeffs, including Nyirjesy, sweep their opponents. Sophomores Anna Scheidt and Megan Clower and junior Hayley Milbourn, along with Merves, provided the other sweeps for the Jeffs’ squad. Merves, who had a particularly dominating match, winning her games 11-4, 11-2 and 11-1, was encouraged by the performance of the young team, saying, “The first match of the season can be a bit nerve-wracking for everyone, but the team really started things off strong.”
Both the men’s and women’s squads look to build on its success as it faces Vassar College this Saturday.