After opening their season with a 3-6 loss to Williams, the women’s tennis team looked to rebound with a strong performance at the USTA/ITA New England Regional Tournament last weekend.
The Lady Jeffs headed to Bates for the event, which was unique in that each player competed individually, instead of as part of the team. After the departure of six key seniors from last year’s national runner-up squad, Amherst hoped to use the weekend as an indicator of how well they should match up against their NESCAC and Div. III rivals this year.
In a rematch of last season’s NCAA championship match, the women’s tennis team began their 2011 fall campaign by hosting Williams last Saturday evening.
For both teams, the contest was their first taste of action since the Ephs edged out the Jeffs 5-4 to win the NCAA title in May.
Much has changed, however, for the Jeffs since then, as they lost six seniors this offseason, and come into the year looking for younger players to fill that void.
After capturing the NCAA championship this past spring, the men’s tennis team launched into its fall season with an array of impressive performances at the Trinity Invitational Tournament this past weekend.
Justin Reindel ’14 stormed past the competition to win the ‘A Flight’ singles title, while Eli Mlaver ’14 captured the ‘B Flight’ singles championship. In doubles action, the tandem of Daniel Keolasy ’13 and Surainder Asokaraj ’12 secured the ‘B Flight’ doubles title.
Women
The women’s tennis team protected its perfect NESCAC record and No. 1 ranking with two victories over high-quality competition this past weekend. After losing their top spot in the ITA’s national rankings at the end of March, the Jeffs’ strong play over the past two weeks re-earned them their No. 1 ranking, but also provided their opponents, Colby and Williams, with an incentive to play spoiler. Yet the Jeffs handily dealt with both teams, dismissing Colby 7-2 on Saturday before defeating their archrivals by the same score the following afternoon.
