Women
The top-ranked women’s tennis team was put to the test on Sunday when they traveled to face third-ranked Middlebury. The Lady Jeffs were able to squeeze out the win, 5-4, and end their regular season undefeated in Div. III play.

Amherst snagged two of the three doubles matches as Jordan Brewer ’14 and Gabby Devlin ’14 finished their season undefeated as a doubles pair, beating Brittney Faber and Leah Kepping, 8-3. Caroline Richman ’13 and Safaa Aly ’15 notched the other win for Amherst as they easily defeated Margot Marchese and Lauren Amos.

In the No. 2 spot, Jen Newman ’14 and Zoe Pangalos ’14 fell to Lok-Sze Leung and Ria Gerger in a competitive 8-6 loss.
Devlin gave Amherst a 3-1 lead as she made quick work of Dorrie Paradies 6-0, 6-2, in the No. 5 spot. Pangalos followed with an easy win as well, beating Faber 6-1, 6-2, in the No. 6 spot.

Amherst only needed one more win to secure the overall victory, but Middlebury did not give up as Kepping defeated Sue Ghosh ’16 in the No. 3 spot, 6-2, 6-1. Richman clinched the victory with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Marchese in the No. 4 spot. Richman’s win was critical as both Brewer and Newman lost in the No. 1 and No. 2 spot, respectively.

Newman easily won her first set 6-1 before dropping the second set 6-3 and falling in the third set 7-5. Brewer played some great points against Leung, but it wasn’t enough as Leung triumphed 7-5, 6-3.

Amherst’s win against Middlebury marked the end to its perfect regular season in Div. III play. The team’s only loss this season came to Div. II team, Lynn Univ., over spring break.

Next weekend, May 3-5, Amherst hopes to defend its NESCAC crown as they host the NESCAC Championship.

Men
This past Saturday, the Amherst men’s tennis team ended their regular season on a 13 dual-match winning streak. Undefeated since returning from spring break, the 17th-ranked Jeffs were able to knock off ninth-ranked Middlebury, 7-2, and defeat Suny Oneonta, 9-0, as well.

In the match against Midd., the Jeffs started the day off strong by winning two of the three doubles matches. In the No. 3 spot, Joey Fritz ’14 and Justin Reindel ’14 were able to handle Spencer Lunghino and William Oberrender with little difficulty, beating them 8-4. However, the No. 1 and No. 2 doubles’ teams faced some more competition. Chirs Dale ’14 and Andrew Yaraghi ’16 fell to Alex Johnston and Andrew Lebovitz, 8-6, while Mark Kahan ’13 and Michael Solimano ’16 were able to edge Brantner Jones and Palmer Campbell in a tight 9-8 win.

In singles, the Jeffs dominated, capturing five victories of the six potential matches. In the No. 2 and No. 3 spots, Kahan and Yaraghi rolled as they both defeated their opponents 6-3, 6-3. In the sixth spot, Reindel was able to defeat Teddy Fitzgibbons 6-2, 7-5.

The top singles match showcased a great three-set battle between Fritz and Johnston. Fritz initially dropped the first set, 7-5, before taking the second by the same score. In the end, Fritz triumphed for Amherst with a 10-4 win in the decisive tiebreak.

Dale also had a competitive match in the fifth spot against Jackson Frons. Dale won the first set, 6-4, before falling in the second set, 6-2. He recovered and rallied to win the cutthroat third set, 7-6.

Ben Fife ’16 was the only Jeff to lose his single match as Lunghino of Middlebury defeated him 6-3, 7-6.

Their upset-win against Midd proved once again that Amherst belongs at the top of nation as they continue to beat higher-ranked teams. The win also put Amherst at the top of the NESCAC standings as they finished the season undefeated in the NESCAC play (8-0).

In the match against Suny Oneonta, the Jeffs were in control the entire match as they completely shut out the New York team. In doubles, Amherst didn’t drop a single game as all three pairs cruised to 8-0 victories.

Aaron Revzin ’16 and Andrew Scheiner ’15 topped Mackenzie Park and Michael Kennelly in the No. 1 spot, first-years Carlos de Bracamonte and Russell Einbinder handled Benjamin Leighton and Adam Slifkin in the No. 2 spot, and Alex Kim ’13 and Surain Asokaraj ’16 beat Joseph Morris and Ryohei Nakamura in the No. 3 spot.

The Jeffs experienced very similar success in singles, only dropping a total of nine games across all six matches. Notable on the day was senior captain Dan Keolasy who blanked Nakamura 6-0, 6-0.

Other Jeffs faced little trouble as well. Both Kim and Einbinder each only dropped a game, winning both their matches in the No. 1 and No. 2 singles spots, respectively, 6-0, 6-1. Asokaraj defeated his opponent, Slifkin by the same score in the No. 4 spot, while Revzin defeated his opponent 6-0, 6-2 in the No. 3 spot. Senior Will Rives held his ground in the sixth spot with a solid 6-2, 6-2 win.

This win marked the end of an undefeated April for the Jeffs and improved their overall record to 26-7. After a rocky fall season, Amherst is ready to ride this momentum into the NESCAC Championships. The team looks to defend their title at home this weekend, May 3-5.