Clinton, NY- The men's tennis team headed up to Hamilton College for a match their last away regular season match of the season. The match would be played indoors due to the weather. With the courts playing rather quick, the doubles play would start with big serving and lots of noise echoing throughout the field house. On the top court, the Ephs went down 4-1 early, before a crucial break back brought the score line even again at 4-4.
Number two doubles held serve all the way until 6-5 Hamilton, when they broke through, and then served it out. The third court for the Ephs, an all-first year duo of
Kush Anand and
Leon Liu, took care of business clinically winning 8-4. The one doubles match would head to a tiebreaker at 7-7, and Hamilton struck first, going up 4-0. The Ephs fought back to 3-4, but a couple excellent shots by the Hamilton duo sent them over the edge, and the Ephs found themselves down 2-1 after doubles for the second day in a row.
As singles started, matches up and down the board were very competitive. With only four available courts, courts one, three, four, and five headed out first. Williams would take three of those four first sets, as
Matt Kandel served his way to a 6-4 win,
Simon Volkema raised his level at exactly the right moments for another 6-4, and Liu rolled his opponent 6-3. In the second sets, Kandel and Volkema had identical scores and they both came away victorious at exactly the same moment, putting the Ephs up 3-2. Moments later, Liu came through for the Ephs on 5, playing an excellent second set tiebreaker, making sure that Williams only needed one more match to clinch the overall win.
On court four, Anand appeared to be down and out, down a set and down 4-0, but not to be underestimated, he dug his teeth in and reeled off four straight games to level the second set. But it wasn't time to celebrate yet, as Anand's opponent upped his level and found himself looking at two match points. However, Anand, ever so poised, stepped up to the line and delivered two beautiful serve and volley winners, sending the set to a tiebreaker. After that, the Hamilton player's spirit was never quite the same, and following a tiebreaker win for Anand, he ran away with the third set, 6-1. Thus the match had been clinched as the final two contests of the day were finishing.
On court six,
Andrew Chong displayed sublime tactical maneuvering, running his opponent to the ends of the earth before deftly playing a volley just out of his reach. With this pattern consistently continuing, Chong cruised to a 6-4, 6-2 victory. All eyes turned to court two, where
Shawn Berdia was in yet another marathon battle. After losing the first set, Berdia went up 4-1 in the second, but then went down 5-4 behind some massive serving from his opponent. Not to be outdone, two games in a row Berdia saved match points with some courageous tennis, and the second set would be decided by a tiebreaker.
It was all Berdia, as he proved too steady for his big-hitting opponent, and the third set tiebreaker began shortly after. The two traded points until 4-4, when Berdia kicked it into high gear, and went up 9-5. The Ephs rejoiced as Berdia finally closed out the match, sealing a singles sweep for the Ephs, and marking the end of a long day of tennis.
Assistant coach
Andrew Dorr said, "Coming two and a half hours away for a match against a good team on an unfamiliar surface is never easy, and I think that proved true in doubles. However, our team showed once again that we have the ability to compete with anybody on any given day, and I'm super pleased with the way we competed on the singles court today. Can't wait to be back home next weekend, for what will be, if you can believe it, both our last two regular season matches and also our home opener. Go Ephs!"
Doubles
Anderson/Torwar (HAM) def. Kandel/Chen (WIL) 8-7(3)
Griff/Esposito (HAM) def. Berdia/Volkema (WIL) 8-5
Liu/Anand (WIL) def. Feldman/Sternberg (HAM) 8-4
Singles
Kandel (WIL) def. Griff (HAM) 6-4, 6-2
Berdia (WIL) def. Torwar (HAM) 2-6, 7-6(4), 1-0(5)
Volkema (WIL) def. Anderson (HAM) 6-4, 6-2
Anand (WIL) def. Feldman (HAM) 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-1
Liu (WIL) def. Gritz (HAM) 6-3, 7-6(1)
Chong (WIL) def. Sternberg (HAM) 6-4, 6-2
