CLAREMONT, CA — On Wednesday, the Ephs' spring break trip reached its crescendo, as they faced off against the NCAA Division III top-ranked Stags of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. "They were too good for us today," were the words of Eph head coach Dan Greenberg after the contest, a contest that the Ephs came out the losers of by the margin of 8-1, snapping their run of wins at four. And he wasn't wrong.
The Ephs fought hard, keeping two of the three doubles matches close, but it was never going to be enough, thanks to streaks the likes of the one at one-doubles, where the Stags rattled off five games unanswered after being down a break, 4-3, that would be the overarching theme of the match: "We started well in doubles and singles, but then we gave them a few loose points, which they took and ran with."
Another example could be readily found at one-singles where, down 5-1, Stag senior Warren Wood put together a devastating six-game run that saw him seize the first set from the jaws of defeat, before going on to win six of the next seven games against Eph junior Jose Raventos to cruise to a comfortable 6-1 second set.
"We competed with them, but they found an extra gear and we didn't. That's why they're #1; hopefully we can learn from it," added Greenberg after the match.
No matter how hard the Ephs tried, they just could not get a firm foothold in the majority of the matches. Although one-doubles went down 8-4, the remaining two Eph pairings each exchanged blows with their Stag counterparts deep into their matches, but both were bested at the business end of their respective pro-sets, as both teams came out on the losing end of 8-6 scorelines.
Singles was hardly any different, as the Ephs managed to take the first set on only one court, which produced their only quantifiable reward from the match; however, not even that point would come easy, as Eph junior Howard Weiss was pushed all the way into a super tiebreaker (in lieu of a deciding third set since the match's winner had already been decided) to prove his mettle and earn the Ephs their loan point of the day.
Looking back on the trip as a whole, Greenberg had nothing but positives to take away from it: "It really was a great trip for us. We played eight tough teams, and we got better every match we played. We'll be ready for this weekend and then NESCAC play."
And ready they must be, as the Ephs return to the east coast, where they will be greeted by the likes of third-ranked Washington University (St. Louis) on Saturday in the Ephs' first home match of the spring season. That match is set to get underway at 1 PM EDT at the Torrence M. Hunt Tennis Center.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 8, Williams 1
1. Wood, Warren (CMS) def. Raventos, Jose (WILLIAMS) 7-5, 6-1
2. Butts, Skyler (CMS) def. Shastri, Rohan (WILLIAMS) 6-3, 6-3
3. Marino, Nikolas (CMS) def. Harron, Conrad (WILLIAMS) 6-0, 6-1
4. Morkovine, Daniel (CMS) def. Grodecki, Brian (WILLIAMS) 6-1, 6-4
5. Weiss, Howard (WILLIAMS) def. Macey, Max (CMS) 6-3, 4-6, (10-7)
6. Hull, Glenn (CMS) def. Raghavan, Sachin (WILLIAMS) 6-2, 6-3
1. Dorn, Joe/Wood, Warren (CMS) def. Raventos, Jose/Shastri, Rohan (WILLIAMS) 8-4
2. Butts, Skyler/Morkovine, Daniel (CMS) def. Sadowsky, Jordan/Astrachan, Brian (WILLIAMS) 8-5
3. Marino, Nik/Mehall, Bryan (CMS) def. Raghavan, Sachin/Grodecki, Brian (WILLIAMS) 8-6
Match Notes:
Williams 5-4, nationally ranked #14, regionally ranked #3
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 16-1, nationally ranked #1, regionally ranked #1
