MEDFORD, Mass. - The Williams College men's tennis team opened its fall season at the ITA New England Regional, a competition that featured an A and B Draw for singles and one doubles draw for all competing schools.
The standout performance for the Ephs was the doubles team of Nicholas Chen and Simon Volkema, who beat teams from Babson, Brandeis, and two from Tufts before falling to Babson 3-6, 7-5, 12-10 in the final of the competition. The achievement qualifies the duo for the ITA Cup Nationals which will be held from October 16-19 at the Rome Tennis Center in Rome, Ga.
The other doubles teams each advanced out of the first round - William Luke and Matthew Yang beating a team from Trinity, Jack Ling and Anthony Lim via a bye - before falling in the second round.
Individually, Luke and Volkema both won a match in the A Draw before losing their second match, while Chen beat opponents from Colby and MIT before dropping a match to a player from Bowdoin. Lim faced a seeded opponent from Bowdoin in the opening round and won the first set before his opponent won the next two.
In the B Draw, Ling beat opponents from Babson, Brandeis, and Bowdoin before falling to Tufts in the semifinal, while Carter Fayard beat players from Hartford and Bowdoin before losing a match to Brandeis.
The team will be back in action next weekend in the Skidmore Invitational in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., on Saturday and Sunday.
