After a close loss to non-conference foe MIT last Wednesday, the men's tennis team was looking to bounce back this weekend in NESCAC matchups against Colby and Amherst. The Jumbos earned a split, defeating Colby 5-4 on Friday but falling 8-1 to No. 4 Amherst on Sunday.
The Amherst contest started outdoors on the Voute Courts, but was ultimately moved indoors to the fast surface of the Gantcher Center because of rain. In the doubles matches, the Jumbos lost two competitive tilts at the No. 1 and No. 3 spots, with the top pairing of junior Kai Victoria and sophomore Andrew Lutz losing in an 8-6 battle. Sophomore Mark Kahan and junior Andrew Jung of Amherst broke the Jumbos' serve at 6-6 and 15-40, before holding their own hold serve to seal the victory.
"Kai and I were definitely struggling to execute with the tough, windy conditions outside," Lutz said. "We felt more confident going indoors at Gantcher, because we were used to the courts and they weren't."
Despite the loss, the Jumbos felt that the match was within their grasp.
"Kai and I were a little off on our volleys and overheads, but it was a matter of executing, and we were right there," Lutz said.
The lone win for the Jumbos came from Sam Laber at the No. 6 singles spot, as the junior dropped the first set but surged back to win 6-7 (5), 6-4, 10-5.
But even though they were blown out by Amherst, the weekend was far from a disaster, as the team pulled out a critical victory over Colby on Friday, a team that it is directly competing with for one of six NESCAC playoff spots. The Jumbos were boosted by strong performances in the doubles matches, with the No. 1 pairing of Lutz and Victoria defeating Colby's Matt Carroll and Jack Bryant, 8-6. The Jumbos No. 2 pairing of junior co-captain Morrie Bossen and sophomore Mark Westerfield also contributed a big victory, taking the match in a tiebreaker 9-8.
In singles, the Jumbos were helped by strong performances from freshman Austin Blau, who won at the No. 5 singles spot, 7-5, 6-0, and classmate Pat Monaghan, who won at the No. 3 spot, 1-6, 6-3, 6-3. In addition, sophomore Ben Barad put in a solid performance at No. 2 singles, winning his match 6-1, 6-1.
"The win against Colby was huge for us," senior co-captain Paul Kohnstamm said. "Colby is the number eight in the NESCAC and we're the seventh, and only the top six make it to the NESCAC tournament, so it was a big stepping stone for us to get the win against them."
Both freshmen, Blau and Monaghan, came back from injuries earlier in the season to contribute, with Blau recovering from a broken finger, and Monaghan shaking off back problems.
"Pat had a back injury earlier in the season, and he really stepped up as a freshman with the season on the line. We are going to need him and everyone else against Trinity to get into the NESCAC tournament," Kohnstamm said.
The Jumbos (8-5 overall, 2-2 NESCAC) attributed the weekend split to improved confidence, and believe that it will continue to serve them well in their home match against Trinity on Thursday.
"Our team's attitude has changed since last year," Lutz said. "Last year we had lots of doubt, so we would go into big matches and lose, and it was a self-fulfilling prophecy. This year we are a changed team, and we know going into the Trinity match that they are the favorite, but they lost a couple of players from last year and … are definitely a beatable team. It would be a huge win for us."
Weather permitting, the matches will begin at 4 p.m. Thursday on the Voute Courts.
