AMHERST, MA — The Ephs looked to avenge last year's narrow 5-4 loss to arch-rivals, Amherst, on Saturday afternoon, coming off a pair of NESCAC wins over Wesleyan and Connecticut College last weekend. In spite of their momentum and an entire week's worth of build-up, the Lord Jeffs were far too good for the Ephs on Satuday, as they handed the Ephs a resounding 8-1 defeat.
Unlike last year, the Ephs were unable to capture a majority of the doubles matches; indeed, they fell to defeats on all three courts, presenting them with quite the task in singles to overturn the three-point deficit.
The Ephs managed to hang with the Jeffs on some courts, but the dual was over before it truly began, as the Jeffs jumped all over the Ephs in key matches at one- and five-singles that saw them clinch clinch the proceedings before the Ephs could dig in and get their feet under them in singles.
Jeff senior Sean Rodriguez blanked Eph sophomore Conrad Harron to pull the Jeffs to within one point of victory, before junior Andrew Yaraghi pushed the Jeffs over the finish line by dismissing Eph junior Jose Raventos 6-1, 6-1.
The pair of first-year Ephs competing in singles were the ones who came closest to getting the Ephs on the board, as Brian Grodecki found himself locked in a three-set contest with Jeff junior Aaron Revzin, but Revzin had just enough to outlast Grodecki 11-9 in the super tiebreaker that the two played in lieu of a third set (since the overall match had already been decided).
Grodecki's first-year compatriot, Sachin Raghavan, was ultimately able to prevent the Ephs from leaving Amherst without an individual win, as he raced out to an early break, 3-0, in the first set over Andrew Scheiner and never relinquished it, as he rode it all the way to a 6-3 scoreline. He exemplified more of the same in the second set, managing to again snag an early lead that he was never going to let go of, taking the second set equally comfortably, 6-2, and giving the Ephs their sole point of the day.
The Ephs will have minimal time to recover from the loss, as they now shift their focus to the state capital, where they will visit on Sunday to take on Tufts. That match is scheduled to get started at 2 PM EDT.
Amherst 8, Williams 1
1. Yaraghi, Andrew (AMHERST) def. Raventos, Jose (WILLIAMS) 6-1, 6-1
2. Solimano, Michael (AMHERST) def. Schidlovsky, Alexander (WILLIAMS) 6-3, 6-1
3. Zykov, Anton (AMHERST) def. Shastri, Rohan (WILLIAMS) 6-4, 6-3
4. Revzin, Aaron (AMHERST) def. Grodecki, Brian (WILLIAMS) 4-6, 6-4, 1-0(9)
5. Rodriguez, Sean (AMHERST) def. Harron, Conrad (WILLIAMS) 6-0, 6-0
6. Raghavan, Sachin (WILLIAMS) def. Scheiner, Andrew (AMHERST) 6-3, 6-2
1. Revzin, Aaron/Solimano, Michael (AMHERST) def. Sadowsky, Jordan/Schidlovsky, Alexander (WILLIAMS) 8-2
2. Yaraghi, Andrew/Zykov, Anton (AMHERST) def. Raventos, Jose/Shastri, Rohan (WILLIAMS) 8-3
3. Scheiner, Andrew/Einbinder, Russell (AMHERST) def. Astrachan, Brian/Grodecki, Brian (WILLIAMS) 8-6
Match Notes:
Williams 8-7 (NESCAC 2-2), nationally ranked #14, regionally ranked #4
Amherst 15-4 (NESCAC 4-0), nationally ranked #4, regionally ranked #1
