AMHERST, MA . – Williams men's
tennis (12-7) fell to Amherst College (25-10) in the NCAA Regional
Championship finals, 5-2. The Ephs were gunning for their
fourteenth consecutive NCAA Quarterfinal appearance but fell short
against a talented Lord Jeff squad.
This is the third time in less than a month that the conference
archrivals have faced off. Amherst took the first contest on
April 18 with a 7-2 win, while Williams upset the Lord Jeffs on
their home turf in the NESCAC semifinals by a 5-3 score.
Amherst went up early in doubles play at courts one and two,
defeating the Ephs' top two pairs by 8-4 and 8-5
margins. Felix Sun and Trey Meyer finished off a successful
season with an 8-5 win to salvage one point for the Ephs heading
into singles play. The freshman duo posted an 11-3 record at
court three this spring.
The Ephs would not let Amherst take the match without a fight as
all six singles matches headed to three sets. Austin Chafetz
and Felix Sun battled at court one. Amherst's number
one player defeated Sun, 6-1, in the opening set, but the young Eph
stormed from behind to take a second set tiebreak. He would
fall in the third set, 6-2. Jeremy Weinberger tallied a
second point for the Ephs with a come from behind three-setter at
court three.
Wes Waterman tallied the next point for Amherst at court four,
bouncing back in the final two sets to take a win over Bryan
Chow. Amherst clinched the match at court two when Mark Kahan
defeated Nick Lebedoff, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3. The Lord
Jeffs advance to the NCAA Quarterfinals and will take on Emory
University on Tuesday, May 25 at Oberlin College.
"It was a tough way to end our season, but I couldn't have asked
more of this team," said Williams' head coach Dan Greenberg.
"We had an amazing class of four seniors who really showed
the younger guys how to compete and care for this program, and
they made it a special year. We'll miss Nick, Jeremy, and the
Bens, but they've really left a great legacy for us to build
upon."
The Ephs finish the season at 12-7, posting a 6-2 record in the
NESCAC. Williams will return incredible talent to next
year's squad. Currently, four of the six players in the
Ephs singles ladder are first- years, while five of the Ephs six
doubles players are either first-years or second-years.
Amherst 5, Williams 2
Doubles:
1) Austin Chafetz/Robby Sorrel (AMH) def. Dicken Chaplin/Bryan
Chow (WIL) --- 8-4
2) Moritz Koenig/Mark Kahan (AMH) def. Nick Lebedoff/Will Petrie
(WIL) --- 8-5
3) Trey Meyer/Felix Sun (WIL) def. Wes Waterman/Sean Doerfler
(AMH) --- 8-5
Singles:
1) Austin Chafetz (AMH) def. Felix Sun (WIL) --- 6-1, [6-7(6)],
6-2
2) Mark Kahan (AMH) def. Nick Lebedoff (WIL) --- 6-4, [4-6], 6-3
3) Jeremy Weinberger (WIL) def. Moritz Koenig (AMH) --- [1-6],
6-4, 7-5
4) Wes Waterman (AMH) def. Bryan Chow (WIL) --- [4-6], 6-3, 6-1
5) Sean Doerfler (AMH) vs. Zach Weiss (WIL) --- 7-6(4), [3-6],
1-1 DNF
6) Priit Gross (AMH) vs. Trey Meyer (WIL) --- 7-5, [3-6], 3-1
DNF
