Homecoming weekend was overall a smashing success, especially for the football team, which avenged last season’s loss against Wesleyan with a thrilling last-minute victory. Students, faculty and a great number of alumni gathered on an unusually warm fall afternoon Saturday to watch the Mammoths take on the Cardinals. With the victory, Amherst improved its season record to 5-1, while Wesleyan fell to 4-2.
After two disappointing losses last week to NESCAC rivals Bates and Colby, Amherst bounced back this week with victories against Smith and Wesleyan. On Thursday, Oct. 19, Amherst traveled to Smith, where the Mammoths easily handled the hosts, winning by a final score of 3-0. Amherst dominated all facets of play and held the advantage in total shots (24-1), shots on goal (18-0) and penalty corners (15-0).
This past weekend, the Amherst men’s tennis team wrapped up its fall season at the Wallach Invitational hosted by Bates College. The Mammoths had seven singles entries across four different draws and won two of them thanks to Sean Wei ’21, who won the A bracket, and Kevin Ma ’21, who won the C bracket. Amherst also sent three doubles teams to Maine, highlighted by the pair of Nathan Kaplan ’20 and Zach Bessette ’19, which advanced to the finals of the A bracket.
Over homecoming weekend, the Amherst men’s soccer team faced off against a pair of opponents, NESCAC rival Wesleyan and nonconference foe Farmingdale State College. The Mammoths managed to emerge with two home wins, scoring nine goals over the course of the weekend and improving to an overall record of 10-2-2.
The Amherst women’s volleyball team (14-9) had a successful homecoming weekend, picking up two wins and one loss during the 26th Annual Volleyball Hall of Fame Tournament at LeFrak Gymnasium.
Although the Mammoths began the tournament by losing 3-2 to Wellesley College, the hosts responded strongly on Saturday, winning against both Coast Guard Academy and Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI).
The Amherst men’s basketball team returns to the court this season with high hopes, despite having just graduated eight seniors. These seniors had formed the core of an Amherst squad that made it to four consecutive NCAA tournaments, including two Final Fours. They had also domianted the team leader-board in most statistical categories. Although the squad as a whole is smaller this year than it had been in past years, coach David Hixon said they are excited about the challenge that this will bring.
Despite the difficulties the team faced last postseason, Amherst men’s squash looks to put together another strong season. With Head Coach Peter Robson entering his 31st season at the helm of Amherst squash, the team looks to build upon last season’s individual successes.
Junior Harith Khawaja earned All-NESCAC honors, finishing the season with a combined record of 6-13 in regular season play on courts one and two.
