SAN ANTONIO, TX – What a difference a day makes. To be
blunt – the Ephs did not play up to their capabilities
yesterday, but today was a much different story as the 9th-ranked
Ephs rose up and defeated #3 Washington University (MO) this
afternoon.
"When our singles are clicking we are a scary team," said rookie
Eph head coach Dave Donn. "We've got the confidence now that we can
play anybody in the country 1-6 and today we really played well as
a team."
Washington University took a 2-1 lead into singles play by
collecting wins at number one and number three doubles, but the
Ephs would only allow the Bears one victory in singles play to wrap
up the 6-3 win.
Key wins for the Ephs were Nick Lebedoff at number two where he
downed Charlie Cutler who was a top 10-player last year and at
number four where sophomore Jeremy Weinberger continues to impress.
Weinberger started the season off at number six singles but of late
has been playing at number four. "I just had a gut feeling that
Jeremy's style would allow him to win at four and the move would
make us even stronger," said Donn.
Weinberger rewarded Donn's faith with a straight set win, but had
to win the first set with a 17-15 score in the tiebreaker in the
first set.
"This was a big win for our program beating a top three team after
a disappointing result yesterday," stated Donn. "Coming back from a
2-1 deficit after doubles shows that the guys are starting to play
the way I preach and battle for every point. This was a good, hard
fought win. If we can just get our doubles clicking we'll really
have something here."
The 6-1 Ephs will close out their spring break trip with a final
match tomorrow against #7 Claremont.
Doubles:
1. #3 Charlie Cutler/Chris Hoeland (WU) def.
Bret Thacher/Dan Greenberg (W) – 8-6
2. Gary Simonette/Nick Lebedoff (W) def. John
Watts/Isaac Stein (WU) – 8-6
3. Nirmal Choradia/Max Woods (WU) def. Karol
Furmaga/Rick Devlin (W) – 8-5
Singles:
1. #1 John Watts (WU) def. Greenberg (W) –
6-4, 6-1
2. Nick Lebedoff (W) def. Cutler (WU) –
6-2, 6-1
3. Simonette (W) def. Danny Levy (WU) –
6-2, 6-0
4. Jeremy Weinberger (W) def. Woods (WU) –
7-6 (17-15), 6-2
5. Furmaga (W) def. Hoeland (WU) – 6-0,
7-5
6. Devlin (W) def. Nirmal Choradia (WU) –
6-2, 6-2
