Men's tennis swept by Middlebury and Bowdoin

Last Wednesday, the men’s tennis team put an end to their three-game losing streak by thrashing NESCAC rival Connecticut College, 6-1. Amherst was dominant throughout, losing only two sets on the day. Adam Leibsohn ’03, playing in number two singles, was the only Jeff to fall, ending up on the wrong side of a tight 6-0, 0-6, 7-5 decision. The highlight of the afternoon came when the Jeffs were able to secure their first doubles’ point of the season.

Leibsohn paired with Bryan Wexler ’02 to win the number one doubles flight, 8-6, while Andrew Merle ’04 and Will Abbott ’05 took the number two doubles match, 8-4. Co-captain Peter Ransmeier ’02 joined forces with Andy Sagor ’03 in the final doubles contest to complete the doubles sweep for the Lord Jeffs. Amherst looked to gain some momentum from their convincing victory over Conn as they headed into their weekend affairs with Middlebury and Bowdoin.

On Saturday, the Jeffs went north to Middlebury, Vt. to take on 14th ranked Middlebury. This was a pivotal match for Amherst, but the Jeffs were unable to play their best tennis when they needed to the most. Middlebury took charge and quickly disposed of their guests, 5-2. Leibsohn and co-captain George Tsai ’02 both pulled out hard-fought three set wins in number two and number four singles, respectively, giving Head Coach Peter Robson the only action he would see in the win column all day. After Amherst swept Conn in doubles a few days earlier, Middlebury returned the favor by taking all three of the doubles contests.

The following day, the Jeffs returned home to host Bowdoin. The Polar Bears were in no mood to be trifled with and swept aside their hosts 7-0. In the doubles competition, the highlight of the day for the Jeffs came when Ransmeier teamed with Andy Tsai ’03 to win a thrilling 9-7 affair in the second flight. However, Bowdoin dominated both the number one and the number three doubles matches to secure the doubles point. “We fought hard in every match we played [over the weekend], singles and doubles, and though each match was quite close, many of them three-setters, we just were not able to pull many of them out,” said George Tsai.

Today, the men’s tennis team will take on MIT and over the weekend Amherst will host the NESCAC Championships, which are a series of singles and doubles tournaments that do not have any real bearing on the team as a whole. “We are still in the thick of things,” said Robson. “The guys are starting to realize that on any given day they can beat [their NESCAC competition] if they believe in themselves.”