Fifth-ranked Jeffs promise to turn heads, go deep into NCAA's

That assumption, however, is wrong. Despite losing only two games and finishing the season ranked fourth in the nation-according to the D3hoops.com poll-the team felt that their performance could have been even better. This season, after graduating only two players and sporting a fifth-place preseason ranking from D3hoops.com, the Jeffs aspire to go even farther. Their hopes will rest largely on the shoulders of talented senior co-captains guard John Bedford and forward John Casnocha. Bedford,

Men's tennis refuses to fall in autumn

Over fall break the Jeffs visited Lewiston, Me., to participate in the Wallach Invitational hosted by Bates College. Despite the less than ideal vacation destination, the team made the visit worthwhile by winning two of the six events and finishing second in three. Danny Babkes ’06 represented the Jeffs in the ‘A’ singles bracket and finished runner-up, succumbing in straight sets to Will Boe-Wiegaard of Bates.Lenny Lepner ’07 also reached the quarterfinals before falling. Sophomore Tal Avraham

Men's tennis mauled by Panthers

Josh Rilla ’06, the 24th-ranked Div. III singles player in the nation, was the Jeffs’ best hope in the tournament. In a match against Middlebury the previous season Rilla flexed his muscle by beating Waldron, then the top-ranked player in the nation, 6-3, 6-3. Although Waldron avenged the loss in the NCAA regional final by a score of 7-6, 6-0, Rilla came into this tournament as a wild card, having proven that he could beat the nation’s best when he found his game. After a bye in the first round,

Firedogs win one, lose one in opening NESCAC quad

After an easy non-conference match against Keene State College on Wednesday, the volleyball team began NESCAC play over the weekend, winning one of two matches at the first quad match of the season. The Firedogs downed the Owls with ease early in the week, 3-0, and remained hot with another 3-0 win against the Polar Bears of Bowdoin College on Friday. Amherst could not keep its momentum going against Colby College, losing a hard-fought match in five games on Saturday. The Firedogs came into th

Game of the Week: Football at Hamilton

With Honors: Catherine Calvert '09 and Whitney Kouvaris '08

Kouvaris helped blast the Firedogs to victories over Keene State and Bowdoin Colleges and kept the team in a close five-game match with Colby College. In a 3-0 walloping of Keene St., Kouvaris recorded nine kills in helping the ‘Dogs cruise to an easy victory. Kouvaris was back in action again against Bowdoin, leading the team with nine kills and two blocks as the Firedogs stifled the Polar Bears 3-0. Amherst faced its toughest opponent so far this season in Colby, and once again Kouvaris was up

Game of the Week: Women's Soccer at Bates College

With Honors: Sara Heller '09 and Katherine Skrivan '06

Senior tri-captain Skrivan sent the Jeffs home happy with a game-winning score on Saturday against the Trinity College Bantams in both teams’ season opener. Neither side had been able to find the back of the cage all day, but with 3:18 left in regulation, Skrivan finally lit up the scoreboard, hammering home a feed from sophomore midfielder Samantha Miller to give the Jeffs the 1-0 victory. Skrivan had a good bit of help, notably from an outstanding defensive effort that held the Bantams to just

Game of the Week: Men's Tennis vs. Middlebury College

Men's tennis squeaks past Trin. Bantams, earns national respect

The Jeffs were very optimistic heading into Saturday’s match against visiting Williams, last year’s NCAA runners-up. This contest was to be Amherst’s best chance to beat the Ephs in years, since the Jeffs graduated only one of their top six singles players from last year and have brought on several key recruits. The match did not go as planned from the very beginning, however, as Amherst struggled out of the gate, dropping each of the three doubles matches to lose the doubles point. The singles

Men's tennis looking forward to dry forecasts, taking on rival Williams

Despite having not played a match in two full weeks, the Jeffs had no difficulty shaking the rust off their games at Conn. on April 1, winning 7-0 and making fools out of the Camels, who won just 10 games in nine matches. Josh Rilla ’06 along with first-years Jeffrey Wan and Tal Avrahami each bageled their opponents in both sets, winning with flawless 6-0, 6-0 scores. Danny Babkes ’06, Lenny Lepner ’07 and Jon Godsall ’06 also won their singles matches in straight sets, and no doubles team lost

Rain slows down Jeffs in California

The team’s first spring tilt came against Cal-Lutheran. The Jeffs were looking to pick up where they had left off in the fall, bringing a flawless 4-0 record into the spring session. They came up just a bit short against the Kingsmen, however, despite victories by sophomore transfer Lenny Lepner, first-year Geoff Schwartz, and the doubles team of juniors Josh Rilla and Danny Babkes. In addition to the play of Lepner and Schwartz, a third newcomer, Michael Mintz ’08, also played well, losing in t

Game of the Week: Men's Basketball hosts NESCAC Final Four

Squash: Women validate ranking at Howe Cup

In the first match of the tournament the Jeffs faced a dangerous opponent in the 12th-ranked Colby White Mules, a team the Jeffs had narrowly beaten, 6-3, earlier in the season. Amherst got off to a hot start as co-captain Ashley Harmeling ’05 won her first match in straight sets. Amherst’s number-two player Caroline Shannon ’07 dropped the first game of her match but came back to win in four games. Although first-year sensation Libby Martin ’08 dropped the third match, Emily O’Brien ’07 stepped

Women's squash optimistic coming into Kurtz Cup finale

Coming into the week as the 11th-ranked team in the nation, the Jeffs were looking for an opportunity to slip into the top bracket in next weekend’s Howe Cup, reserved for the top eight teams in the country. A win over eighth-ranked Williams could have catapulted Amherst into the higher bracket. The women started Saturday off with a convincing 9-0 victory over Wesleyan in which the Amherst squad won every game. The romp was punctuated by a perfect 9-0, 9-0, 9-0 victory by senior co-captain Ashl

Lord Jeffs retain status quo at Trinity Invitational

Coming into the Trinity Invitational with a 7-4 record, the Lord Jeffs had shown the ability to consistently hold off teams ranked in the mid- to upper-teens, defeating solid teams from Tufts University, and Hamilton and Middlebury Colleges to start the season. Faced with another such opponent in St. Lawrence, the Jeffs proved that they were once again up to the challenge by dominating the Saints, 8-1. Only one Amherst player lost a single game and the one match the Jeffs ceded was exceedingly c

Game of the Week: Women's Basketball vs. Bates College

With Honors: John Bedford '06 and Kate Shaw '05

It’s hard to pick out individual performances when a team beats two opponents by a combined 59 points, including an embarrassment of the Williams College Ephs at LeFrak Gymnasium. That being said, Bedford was particularly amazing over the weekend, torching the hated Ephs for 13 points, six rebounds and three assists and continuing the onslaught against the Middlebury College Panthers with 15 points, eight rebounds and a rejection in just 15 minutes on the floor. Bedford was able to put up these

With Honors: Brittany Sasser '08 and Keith Zalaski '06

First-year Sasser caused jaws to drop at the Natatorium over the weekend, setting pool records and earning NCAA A-cuts in each of the three events she raced while leading the Jeffs to a victory over Middlebury. She swam the opening backstroke leg for the 400-yard medley relay in 57.90, shattering the Amherst record. In the 200-yard individual medley Sasser earned a NCAA A-cut and pool record with a time of 2:08.58. Sasser completed the trifecta in the 200-yard backstroke with still another pool

Game of the Week: Men's Basketball at Williams College

Men's golf disappoints in final tournament

Div. I, II and III teams from all across New England competed in the tournament. While the actual competition was held on Monday and Tuesday, team members competed against each other the previous weeks in qualifying rounds for this tournament on the team’s home course. Over the two-day tournament, the team shot a combined 667 to finish in a tie for 29th, 31 shots behind Div. III champion University of Southern Maine and 61 shots behind overall champion University of Connecticut. Tuesday’s cumul

Men's golf: Men still looking to find their strokes

Soggy weather at the Taconic Golf Course in Williamstown prevented play on Saturday, but the Jeffs got down to business on Sunday. They posted a composite 327, 24 strokes behind tournament winner University of Rochester, but ahead of NESCAC rivals Wesleyan University and Hamilton and Trinity Colleges. Senior captain Justin Sharaf continued his hot start to the season by shooting his third consecutive sub-80 round, an eight-over par 79, good enough to tie for 26th in a field of 119 golfers. Sean

Men's golf team underperforms

With the graduation of only one team member, Daniel Altschuler ’04, and the return of the entire core lineup, including two-time Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA)/PING All-Northeast Region honoree captain Justin Sharaf ’05, the team will look to build off an impressive 2002-03 campaign that included consecutive second place finishes in the NESCAC Championships and the Western New England College (WNEC) Invitational. In order to do so, however, the Jeffs will clearly have to improve on