WILLIAMSTOWN,
MA. – The Williams men's tennis team (14-5)
advanced to their thirteenth consecutive NCAA Quarterfinals over
Bowdoin College (12-8), 5-1. Fighting against windy weather
and chilly conditions, senior captain Karol Furmaga won the
decisive fifth point at court six over Bowdoin's Josh Cranin,
6-3, 7-5.
“It is a great feeling right now,”
said William's head coach Dave Donn. “I'm very happy for
our seniors.
It's a great accomplishment for them to have reached the
Elite 8 for four straight years, and it is a testament to all their
hard work. This win
was for our seniors today.”
The Ephs took a 2-1 lead out of doubles
play. Bowdoin's
number one pair of Jamie Neely and Oscar Pena took charge at court
one over Dicken Chaplin and Bret Thacher, defeating the Williams
pair, 8-1. Jeremy
Weinberger and Kevin Shallcross delivered a win at court three,
8-3, to even the score while Nick Lebedoff and Will Petrie muscled
out a 9-7 win over their Bowdoin counterparts at court two.
Freshman Kevin Shallcross had another speedy
win at court five over Neely, 6-2. 6-4. Another senior captain,
Rick Devlin, contributed with a win at court three over Alex
Caughron, 6-4, 6-3, before Furmaga iced the win.
“We knew Bowdoin was going to be tough
coming in,” continued Donn. “It was a tough match and
they fight to the last point, so we needed to stay focused from the
first point to the last and we kept our composure and played
well.”
Williams will head to California to take on UC
Santa Cruz on Tuesday, May 19. UC Santa Cruz is currently
ranked third in the nation, while Williams is ranked eighth.
Williams 5,
Bowdoin 1
Doubles-
1)
Pena/Neely (B) def. Chaplin/Thacher (W) --- 8-1
2)
Lebedoff/Petrie (W) def. Sullivan/Caughron (B) --- 9-7
3)
Weinberger/Shallcross (W) def. White/Cranin (B) --- 8-3
Singles-
1)
Nick Lebedoff (W) vs. Stephan Sullivan (B) --- 6-2, 1-6, 3-3
2)
Jeremy Weinberger (W) led Oscar Pena (B) --- 6-4, 4-6, 5-2
3)
Rick Devlin (W) def. Alex Caughron (B) --- 6-4, 6-3
4)
Will Petrie (W) led Alex White (B) --- 7-6(8), 5-4
5)
Kevin Shallcross (W) def. Jamie Neely (B) --- 6-2, 6-4
6)
Karol Furmaga (W) def. Josh Cranin (B) --- 6-3, 7-5
