Hartford, CT- The Ephs bounced back from their first NESCAC defeat this season with a dominant 8-1 victory over Trinity. Doubles today was all Williams, as up and down the lineup all six players executed plays and downed their opponents in style. At one doubles, freshman
Leon Liu continued his stellar rookie season by taking over the match with his monstrous serve, making it easy for his partner, and his pinpoint accuracy on the return, leaving the Trinity top pairing unsure of how to find a chink in the Ephs' armor.
Two doubles controlled the entire match as well, as
Shawn Berdia and
Simon Volkema unleashed their potential in a dazzling display of dominant doubles. Following a break of serve at 3-2, they never looked back, and rode the wave of momentum to an 8-2 win. Court 3 was slightly more exciting, as the wind picked up near the end of the first set. However never worried,
Andrew Chong stepped up and with
Kush Anand serving, put volley after volley away to seal the doubles sweep with an 8-6 triumph.
Singles action started swiftly at number five, where Lightning Liu lived up to his nickname, winning the first set in a "NESCAC?" record 7 minutes. Following in his footsteps, four other Ephs took their first set as well. With Liu finishing the match quickly, the Ephs would go up 4-0, and it would be the other rookie Anand who stepped up and punished the ball into oblivion, winning in two decisive sets and thus clinching the overall match for the Ephs.
Next to win was Volkema, who used his forehand and backhand alike to run his opponent from side tp side. Simply too good to be beaten, he would win 6-2, 6-2.
Matt Kandel finished his up and down match with a monkey slam, and Berdia soon followed suit with a crisp forehand winner to end it. The final tally on the day would be 8-1 Ephs.
Eph head coach
Dan Greenberg said after the match, "Today was a good bounce back win for us. Obviously yesterday's loss was tough, and so I am proud of how we shook it off and played good, solid tennis today, getting the win. On to Amherst." The Ephs return to action next Saturday at the Amherst Tennis Courts, 12: 00 EDT.
Doubles
Kandel/Liu (WIL) def. Sanchez-Carrion/Ginter (TRIN) 8-5
Berdia/ Volkema (WIL) def. Garbati/Rutledge (TRIN) 8-2
Chong/Anand (WIL) def. Buoro/Felcher (TRIN) 8-6
Singles
Kandel (WIL) def. Sanchez-Carrion (TRIN) 6-4, 7-5
Berdia (WIL) def. Rutledge (TRIN) 6-3, 6-1
Volkema (WIL) def. Buoro (TRIN) 6-2, 6-2
Anand (WIL) def. Nelson (TRIN) 6-2, 6-2
Liu (WIL) def. Erodula (TRIN) 6-0, 6-2
Garbati (TRIN) def. Chong (WIL) 6-2, 6-4
