by Rachel Rosten
WILLIAMSTOWN,
MA. – No matter the sport, and no matter the day, a
Williams-Amherst match up always proves to be an exciting
occasion.
In what could be their final showdown against
the rival Lord Jeffs, co-captains Dan Greenberg and Gary Simonette
can leave the Purple Valley content as their team prevailed over
the defectors this afternoon by a final score of 6-3.
“It is a great feeling,” commented
Williams' head David Donn. “For our seniors to beat
Amherst in their last Little Three contest against them is
great.”
Success in doubles play has proven to be
important in close matches for the Ephs, and today they were
successful in nabbing two wins in the early going.
“Doubles play is huge,” continued
Donn. “It sets
the tone for the rest of the match, and the last few matches our
doubles matches have been going well, and that's promising
for us.”
Williams was in control in singles play and
clinched the first three singles matches to claim the match. At court one, Greenberg
tallied the first singles victory after closing out his opponent in
straight sets.
Williams' number-two player, Nick Lebedoff, followed suit to grab
the fourth point in straight sets as well.
At court four, Jeremy Weinberger would seal
the win but not easily. The Williams sophomore looked
dominant in the first set, but Amherst's Dan Kim fought hard
to take the second set. Weinberger responded to win the
first five games of the deciding set. Although Kim got back a break to
narrow the score at 5-2, a visibly frustrated Weinberger eventually
composed himself to close out the ma
tch, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2.
Although Williams had already clinched the
win, three matches were left to be played. Gary Simonette and Mike Mintz
dueled it out in a marathon match at court three. With the match appropriately
being decided in a third set tie-break, Simonette could not outlast
his opponent. Karol Furmaga had a tough day, falling in straight
sets at court five, while Rick Devlin proved resilient at court six
in a 7-5, 7-5 victory,
Williams, ranked fourth in the nation, is now
9-1 on the season and 1-0 in conference play. The Ephs will face off against
Middlebury on Wednesday at 4:00 at home. Amherst falls to 6-4 on the
year, and 1-1 in conference play.
Williams 6,
Amherst 3
Doubles
1)
Dan Greenberg/Bret Thacher (W) def. Zack Lerner/Sean Doerfler (A)
--- 8-5
2)
Gary Simonette/Nick Lebedoff (W) def. Jeff Wan/Geoff Schwartz (A)
--- 8-2
3)
Mike Mintz/Tal Avrahami (A) def. Karol Furmaga/Rick Devlin (W) ---
8-5
Singles
1)
Greenberg (W) def. Lerner (A) --- 6-3, 6-3
2)
Lebedoff (W) def. Doerfler (A) --- 6-3, 6-2
3)
Mintz (A) def.
Sim
onette (W) --- 3-6, 6-2, 7-6(9)
4)
Jeremy Weinberger (W) def. Dan Kim (A) --- 6-2, 4-6, 6-2
5)
Wan (A) def. Furmaga (W) --- 6-3, 6-1
6)
Devlin (W) def.
Koenig (A) --- 7-5, 7-5
