AZUSA, CA — Tuesday saw the Ephs take on the Cougars of Azusa Pacific University in an attempt to bounce back from their 5-4 loss in their spring opener against Point Loma. However, the Ephs would fall by the same margin, as once again the match came down to a third set in the last match of the day on court 4.
Eph sophomore Rohan Shastri managed to take the first set off of Cougar senior Gary Yam by the score of 6-2, before Yam returned the exact same scoreline in the second set but in his own favor, forcing the match into a deciding set. Unlike the first two sets, however, the third set proved to be a much tighter affair, as each player held serve up to 5-6, when Yam finally broke through on Shastri's service game to clinch the match and the dual for the Cougars.
In spite of the 5-4 loss, just like in the spring opener the day before, Williams had claimed an early advantage over their opponents by the end of the doubles portion.
The combination of Shastri and his partner, Eph junior Jose Raventos, put the Ephs on the board, as they claimed a narrow 8-6 win at two-doubles over the Cougar pairing of senior Benedikt Eger and sophomore Pascal Engel.
The Eph duo of junior Brian Astrachan and sophomore Conrad Harron doubled the Ephs' lead just moments later with a victory at the number three position over Cougar sophomores Alan Leahy and Shepherd Newcomb by the same 8-6 scoreline.
And on court 1, the Ephs came close to sweeping all three doubles points and to taking a commanding lead into the singles portion, but some strong play by Yam and Cougar junior Jan Meyer prevented that from happening. Yam and Meyer battled with the Eph pairing of freshman Jordan Sadowsky and junior Alexander Schidlovsky to 7-all, but then took control of the match as they won the next two games to give the Cougars their first point of the day.
The Cougars built on their freshly gained momentum as the dual moved into the singles portion.
Meyer only grew in confidence from his doubles win, cruising to a straightforward 6-1, 6-0 scoreline over Raventos at the number one position to level the match at 2 points apiece, before Azusa would gain their first lead of the day a short time later when Eger downed Schidlovsky on court 2 by the margin of 6-2, 6-4.
The seesaw nature of the match would only continue, however, as the Ephs were able to regain their one-point lead by claiming two matches in quick succession.
First, it was Eph junior Howard Weiss at six-singles, who, after comfortably claiming the first set 6-1, had to slam the door shut on Cougar junior Tomas Aranguiz, as he refused to back down, pushing the second set all the way to a tiebreaker, before Weiss outlasted him 7-4 to level the overall match score once again.
Next, it was Harron at three-singles, who pulled the Ephs to within one point of winning the match. He fought a gritty battle with Engel in a first set that required a tiebreaker to separate the two, which Harron managed to pull out by the slim difference of 7-5. With the momentum and the first set in hand, Harron took hold of the second set, seizing it comfortably 6-3.
In spite of needing only one more point once again, that fifth point remained elusive for the Ephs, as they sunk to 0-3 in third sets this spring, losing three-setters at both the fourth and fifth positions.
Leahy managed to recover from dropping a tight first set on court 5 to Sadowsky 7-5, to go on to claim the final two sets 6-4 and 6-2, before Yam was able to outlast Shastri on court 4 and clinch the match for the Cougars.
After the match, Eph head coach Dan Greenberg commented on his team's need to just get over the line in a match to really find a rhythm and become comfortable: "It was another exciting match, and again we played good doubles and competed well in singles. They were very tough up top, and we let a few moments slip by down low. We put ourselves in a position to beat a really good team, so now the next step is converting that 5th point."
The Ephs continue their trek for their first win of the spring season as they venture farther north up the California coast, with Claremont as their destination to face off against Pomona-Pitzer. That match is set to start at 7 PM EDT tomorrow evening.
Azusa Pacific 5, Williams 4
- Meyer, Jan (AZUSA) def. Raventos, Jose (WILLIAMS) 6-1, 6-0
- Eger, Benedkit (AZUSA) def. Schidlovsky, Alexander (WILLIAMS) 6-2, 6-4
- Harron, Conrad (WILLIAMS) def. Engel, Pascal (AZUSA) 7-6(5), 6-3
- Yam, Gary (AZUSA) def. Shastri, Rohan (WILLIAMS) 2-6, 6-2, 7-5
- Leahy, Alan (AZUSA) def. Sadowsky, Jordan (WILLIAMS) 5-7, 6-4, 6-2
- Weiss, Howard (WILLIAMS) def. Aranguiz, Tomas (AZUSA) 6-1, 7-6(4)
- Meyer, Jan/Yam, Gary (AZUSA) def. Sadowsky, Jordan/Schidlovsky, Alexander (WILLIAMS) 9-7
- Raventos, Jose/Shastri, Rohan (WILLIAMS) def. Eger, Benedikt/Engel, Pascal (AZUSA) 8-6
- Astrachan, Brian/Harron, Conrad (WILLIAMS) def. Leahy, Alan/Newcomb, Shepherd (AZUSA) 8-6
Match Notes:
Williams 1-2, nationally ranked #14, regionally ranked #3
Azusa Pacific 14-3, nationally ranked #12, regionally ranked #2
