With three opponents in three days, the team’s entire fall season results came to a head in a single weekend, and it did not disappoint. Against Johns Hopkins, the doubles pairing of Moritz Koenig ’11 and Wes Waterman ’12, as well as Luis Rattenhuber ’13 and Mark Kahan ’13, blew past the Blue Jays 8-6 at the one and two slots.
On the singles side, Kahan, Rattenhuber, Koenig, Waterman bested their opponents in three sets each, with Reindel winning his match in straight sets. Fritz lost his match at No. 3 6-4, 7-6(4).
The following day, the team made the trek from Baltimore to Pittsburgh to take on Carnegie Mellon, where they topped their performance from the previous day by defeating the Scottie Dogs 9-0 in the dual match. The doubles matches came easy for the Jeffs, but their determination was apparent in the singles matches, as Waterman, Koenig and Kahan all came back from a set down to rally to victories.
On the tail end of a back-to-back-to-back, the Jeffs again hit the road, this time traveling west from Pittsburgh all the way to Gambier, Ohio to go toe to toe with Kenyon. After two days of travel and competition, the Jeffs were understandably tired, but they still scraped out a 6-3 win. There, Koenig and Waterman dropped the first doubles match 8-2, before the Jeffs pulled out the next two matches.
In singles play, head coach Chris Garner toyed with the players’ slottings, as Rattenhuber won the No. 1 match 6-2, 6-4. Kahan dropped his match at No. 2, before Fritz and Waterman picked up the next two wins to put Amherst ahead 5-2. To close out the dual match, Koenig ultimately lost his match in three sets before Reindel defeated his opponent 6-1, 6-1 to give the trip a fitting end.
In addition, Koenig and Waterman qualified for a spot in the USTA/ITA National Small College Championship in Mobile, AL, after winning the ITA Regional title earlier this season. The winners of the Div. III bracket would have been granted a spot in the Div. I tournament.
The pair sustained a tough opening-round loss to a team from Illinois Wesleyan 1-6, 6-4, 10-7. Vying for the fifth place title, they bested a team from the Univ. of Wisconsin-Whitewater, but lost their final match 6-4, 7-5 to a Skidmore team. For their efforts, both Koenig and Waterman were named all-Americans.
Koenig pointed out that he would not dwell on the losses, however: “At the end of the day, the only thing that counts for us is the success in team competition. We are hoping to play for a national title and are going to do everything we can throughout the off-season to put ourselves in a good position.”