Hanover, NH- The Ephs came out firing in doubles, as first year phenom
Leon Liu and junior chop king
Shawn Berdia raced to a 6-0 victory, losing only 5 points the whole set against a solid Boston University tandem. The next victory came from sophomore
Simon Volkema and first year stud
Kush Anand, as the pair found their form at the net, attacking the Dartmouth opponents at every turn. They held their nerve down the stretch to win 7-5. Finally, sophomore
Nicholas Chen and junior
Matt Kandel battled in a back and forth match, which eventually ended up in a tiebreaker. Chen, with some huge serves, guided the team out to a 4-2 lead. Dartmouth responded by rattling off 4 straight points. The Ephmen held their nerve, and with a good return point followed up by a 141 mph serve from Chen, they were locked at 6-6. More points went back and forth when eventually, at 9-8, Chen leaped for a jumping swinging volley, taking the match and subsequently sending the crowd into a frenzy.
Singles action today found the Ephs in battles all over. Berdia defeated his opponent in three hard fought sets, while Kandel fell 7-5 in the third set to his Dartmouth adversary. Liu found his form again and routed his Brown opponent in straight sets. Anand battled hard against Dartmouth's top player, and Volkema flew all over the court, but fell to a very strong opponent. Assistant coach
Andrew Dorr said of the day, "What a treat to compete. Everyone improved from yesterday, and I hope we can carry this momentum into tomorrow and then next week at ITAs." Captain
Andrew Chong also noted, "Proud of the men." The Ephs will play again tomorrow before heading back to the purple valley.
Doubles
Chen/Kandel (WIL) def. Barber/Guerrero Alvarez (DAR) 7-6(8)
Liu/Berdia (WIL) def. BU 6-0
Volkema/Anand (WIL) def. Groom/Chang 7-5
Singles
Liu (WIL) def. Chong (Brown) 6-3, 6-4
Berdia (WIL) def. Dickson (BU) 6-2, 4-6, 6-3
Groom (DAR) def. Kandel (WIL) 5-7, 6-4, 7-5
Onuma (DAR) def. Volkema (WIL) 6-0, 6-0
Guerrero Alvarez (DAR) def. Anand (WIL) 6-1, 6-4
