This weekend, the Amherst men’s tennis team continued its upward swing at the annual MIT invitational. The invitational featured top rated talent from the region, including Boston University, Dartmouth University, Harvard University, and MIT.
The invitational was structured on an individual basis as more of a showcase for the top singles and doubles players in the region to play against one another.
Rarely do Amherst players step on to the Williams College campus without a little fire in their bellies. This weekend, the men’s tennis team was no exception, especially after losing to Williams in the semifinals of the NESCAC tournament last spring. The Jeffs headed west for the USTA/ITA regional championships on Friday. Although this time the team was in Wiliamstown for a tournament, not a matchup against their rivals, they undoubtedly were fueled by the memory of the loss as they took the tournament by storm.
The Amherst men’s tennis team enters the fall season looking for another run at a national championship. After winning the title in the spring of 2014, the team fell short in 2015, falling in the NCAA Division III quarterfinals. The team finished at 8-0 in NESCAC play and posted a 21-6 record overall.
For the second weekend in a row, the Amherst women’s tennis team journeyed up to Middlebury College for the 2015 NESCAC tournament. The Jeffs, seeded third in the tournament, traveled to Vermont with the hope of getting a second chance at the teams responsible for their two NESCAC losses: Williams and Middlebury. And that is exactly what happened.
The Amherst women’s tennis team took on Middlebury last Saturday. Going into the weekend, the Jeffs stood at second in the NESCAC, with the Panthers closely behind in third.
Nationally, Amherst held the No. 3 rank with Middlebury at No. 8. Amherst traveled up to Middlebury’s Proctor Tennis Courts for this NESCAC showdown and after a nail-biter of a match, came home with a loss.
With beautiful spring weather in New England, it was the ideal weekend for some tennis. The women’s tennis had two matches under the sun as the team faced off against archrival and No. 1-ranked Williams on Saturday and No. 17-ranked Wesleyan on Sunday. The Jeffs went 1-1 this weekend, losing to Williams but bouncing back the next day to defeat Wesleyan.
After cruising past Trinity on Tuesday 8-1, the Amherst women’s tennis team encountered their first real challenge of the season this past Saturday. The Jeffs faced No. 10-ranked Bowdoin in a nail-biting back-and-forth battle. Ultimately, the women in purple and white prevailed, defeating Bowdoin 5-4.
