The fourth-ranked Amherst men’s tennis team continues to roll. The Jeffs picked up three more victories to extend their winning streak to six games, improving to 4-0 in the NESCAC and 15-4 overall. Their victories this past week against MIT, No. 23 Trinity and No. 8 Bowdoin were earned in convincing fashion. All six matches in the current winning streak have come by at least a 7-2 edge. The Jeffs are undoubtedly hitting their stride at the right time as they approach the home stretch with just four matches left in the regular season before they attempt to defend their 2014 NESCAC and national championships.
On Thursday, April 9, the Jeffs traveled to Cambridge for a matchup against MIT, who sported a 9-2 record coming into the match. It didn’t take long for the Jeffs to assert their dominance, as all three doubles teams for the Jeffs won. Juniors Aaron Revzin and Michael Solimano continued their masterful play in the No. 1 spot with an 8-5 victory.
Andrew Yaraghi ’16 and Anton Zykov ’17 also won in the No. 2 spot by the same score. Another pair of juniors, Russell Einbinder and Benjamin Fife, won 9-7 in a close match in the No. 3 spot. In singles action, Yaraghi, Zykov, Revzin, Arnaboldi and senior co-captain Andrew Scheiner won in straight sets, while Solimano had a rare setback in the No. 2 spot losing 1-6, 6-2, 3-6.
On Saturday, April 11 and Sunday, April 12, the Jeffs played their first two on-campus home matches against NESCAC foes Trinity and Bowdoin. The Jeffs won by respective scores of 7-2 and 8-1.
Against Trinity, the Jeffs once again got off to an early lead. They swept the Bantams with an 8-4 victory by Solimano and Revzin, an 8-0 victory for Yaraghi and Zykov and an 8-1 triumph from Scheiner and Eimbinder. The Jeffs took four out of six in singles with Yaraghi, Solimano and Zykov winning on the first three courts, and Arnaboldi winning at No. 6. All matches were once again won in straight sets. Trinity dropped to 6-3 overall (2-2 in the NESCAC).
Bowdoin arrived in Amherst, feeling confident with a No. 8 ranking after winning seven of its last eight matches including a 6-3 win over Trinity, which Amherst beat on Saturday.
They left feeling dejected as the Jeffs downed the Polar Bears with a convincing 8-1 victory. For the third consecutive match, the Jeffs swept doubles with the same three pairs of doubles partners winning in relatively close matches. In singles, the Jeffs were equally impressive, with Yaraghi winning 7-5, 6-1 at No. 1, Solimano winning 6-4, 3-6, 10-8 at No. 2, Zykov winning 6-1, 6-0 at No. 3, Revzin winning 6-3, 7-6 at No. 4 and senior co-captain Sean Rodriguez winning 7-5, 6-2 at No. 5. After winning matches decisively against the third-ranked Washington University in St. Louis at Hampshire College on Sunday, April 5 by a score of 7-2, and beating eighth-ranked Bowdoin at home on Sunday, the Jeffs are playing with significant momentum.
“We played well again this weekend,” Zykov said. “We knew Bowdoin was a strong team and one of the best in the country, and we came out competing very well and earned the result we wanted.”
The Jeffs look to build on their success with crucial Little Three matchups against Williams at home on Saturday, April 18 and at Wesleyan on Sunday, April 19.
“Next weekend against our rival [Williams], we will be prepared for them to bring fire against us, and it’s usually a close match, but we’re looking to continue what we’ve started the last couple weeks and beat them again as we have done recently,” Zykov said.
