Hanover, NH- The men's tennis team capped off a solid first weekend of competition today, with multiple wins on both the doubles and singles courts. Doubles play opened with a comfortable win for Nicky step-ups and co. as sophomore scrapper
Nicholas Chen and partner
Matt Kandel serve and volleyed their way into a 6-2 victory over Brown's top pairing. On the other doubles courts, first year
Kush Anand and sophomore
Simon Volkema fought tooth and nail with their Dartmouth opponents, before falling 7-6 in an exceptional display of high quality, fast-paced tennis. Junior
Shawn Berdia and first year
Leon Liu fell 6-3.
Singles saw Anand power past his BU adversary 6-3, 6-1. From start to finish Anand controlled the pace of play, and with the fastest serve clocked at the tournament, a whopping 143 mph, he sealed his first collegiate singles win with an ace. Liu soon followed suit, with a straight sets victory over a Dartmouth first year, in an all-out slug fest between two heavy hitters. Liu's poise in the big moments won him the first set, and his momentum carried him to a smooth second set for a 6-4, 6-2 victory. Volkema saw his first singles victory of the weekend, in a very up and down match. He cruised through the first set smacking winners off of both wings, and throwing in the occasional drop shot just to show off his deft touch. The second set went the way of the BU player, as he found some big serves and forehands and managed to crawl back into the match. But Volkema, calm, cool, and collected, reset the match and ran away with the third set for a 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 victory.
Berdia and Kandel both faced tough Dartmouth opponents, with Berdia falling in a third set and Kandel just falling short in a second set tiebreaker. Kandel reflected on the weekend, "It was such a privilege to be back on the court competing for Williams. Although some tough singles matches didn't go my way this weekend, I felt that my level improved everyday, and the same can be said for all my teammates. I am especially proud of
Leon Liu, who showed poise beyond his years, and
Kush Anand, who dug deep and found a really impressive level today for his first college singles victory." The Ephs look forward to ITA regionals next weekend up at Bowdoin.
Doubles
Kandel/Chen (WIL) def. Hernandez/Lam (Brown) 6-2
Ren/Knox Jones (DAR) def. Volkema/Anand (WIL) 7-6(4)
BU def. Berdia/Liu (WIL) 6-3
Singles
Liu (WIL) def. Barber (DAR) 6-4, 6-2
Anand (WIL) def. BU 6-3, 6-1
Volkema (WIL) def. Dickson (BU) 6-1, 3-6, 6-1
Groom (DAR) def. Berdia (WIL) 6-2, 3-6, 6-2
Onuma (DAR) def. Kandel (WIL) 6-3, 7-6(5)
