Ephs Fall Short 8-1 Against Middlebury

CLINTON, NY - It always looked like an uphill battle for the Ephs on Sunday as the team, decimated by injuries, fielded a lineup featuring only 2 of the Ephs regular top 6 players.

Still in the five court system, leading off for the Ephs were freshman Wyatt Khosrowshahi (#2), sophomore Claude Smith (#4), senior co-captain Jamie Havran (#6), and junior Will Ruggiero (#8). Khosrowshahi and Smith each had tough matches and were defeated 3-0. Havran and Ruggiero fared slightly better, both splitting the first two games of their matches, but were each ultimately beaten in four games. Following on were sophomore Carl Shuck (#1), juniors Anand Butler (#3) and Ben Eisenberg (#5), and senior co-captains Andrew Litvin (#7) and Mason Elizondo (#9). Butler and Eisenberg were each beaten in three games. Litvin fought hard but was eventually beaten in four tight games. Elizondo battled hard in another tight match that could have gone either way, but was unlucky to fall 3-2 in the end. Shuck played a brilliant marathon match with a strong Midd player that went to five games, and after fighting off a couple match balls in the final game, he pulled it out 14-12 in the fifth.

The Ephs have their final regular season match away to Brown on Thursday before heading to nationals from February 23-25. The team hopes to welcome a few players back from injury and also have a couple others back to full fitness by that time.