Williamstown, MA- The Ephs faced NESCAC rival Bowdoin today for their final regular season match of the year. The doubles matches were all quite competitive early on, before the Ephs broke on the top court with a brilliant down the line return winner from
Nicholas Chen. After that break, the top pairing for the Ephs took the match into their hands, and after another break, served out the match at 8-4. On court 2,
Simon Volkema and
Shawn Berdia found themselves down a break early, but battled back to get the match to 5-6, on serve. Unfortunately the Bowdoin team found some big shots near the end, and won 8-5. Court 3 was also tight the whole way through, and the match would be decided by a single break. Despite some great tennis from the Ephs, the Polar Bears duo capitalized on some big points and went on to win, putting Bowdoin up 2-1 after doubles.
In singles play, the matches were battles up and down the lineup. On court 1,
Matt Kandel and his opponent, both unbeaten in NESCAC play, battled back and forth, trading and holding until 3-3, when the Bowdoin player grabbed a break on a big no-ad deuce point. Holding the rest of the set, Bowdoin would win it 6-4. On court 3, Chen went down 3-0 early, but once again upped the ante, and found 12 of the next 15 games, wiping to post a brilliant 6-4, 6-2 victory. The score was level, 2-2. Volkema also took the first set on court 4, with a dazzling display of aggressive tennis. On court 6,
Andrew Chong lost the first set, but stormed back with an absolutely electric set of tennis, winning the second 6-3.
Kush Anand took the first set to a tiebreaker, but some big serving from his opponent sealed the set in favor of Bowdoin. On court 2, Berdia and his opponent battled long, exhausting points, and the first set came down to a few deuce points that fell the way of Bowdoin. On court 1, the second set was much of the same, and once again a key deuce points went to Bowdoin, giving him the break advantage. Never looking back, Kandel lost in two tough sets. Next Anand fell to his opponent in straights, putting Bowdoin up 4-2 on the day. With three matches left on court, Williams needed all of them to pull of the comeback. Unfortunately, it wouldn't be for the Ephs today, as Berdia and Chong lost two great battles. A bright spot at the end of the match however, Volkema ended the day with a win for the Ephs, pulling out a tough three setter against a very formidable opponent. The Ephs enter the NESCAC tournament seeded second, and they will play next Friday in the quarterfinals against the Colby College Mules. Go Ephs!
Doubles
Kandel/Chen (WIL) def. Bradley/Staples (BOW) 8-4
Bradley/Codd (BOW) def. Berdia/Volkema (WIL) 8-5
Tamas/Dorros (WIL) def. Anand/Chong (WIL) 8-4
Singles
Bradley (BOW) def. Kandel (WIL) 6-4, 6-3
Staples (BOW) def. Berdia (WIL) 6-3, 6-4
Chen (WIL) def. Breuker (BOW) 6-4, 6-2
Volkema (WIL) def. Kneiss (BOW) 6-4, 3-6, 6-4
Bradley (BOW) def. Anand (WIL) 7-6(5), 6-2
Tamas (BOW) def. Chong (WIL) 6-1, 3-6, 6-3
