#5 Ephs suffer first loss of season at #10 Redlands, 5-4
Nick Lebedoff '10
REDLANDS, CA. - After such strong doubles play in yesterday's match up against Cal Lutheran, Williams men's tennis could not replicate their success today, digging themselves into a 3-0 hole heading into singles play. The Ephs picked up four wins in singles play, but it wasn't enough as Williams suffered their first loss against #10 Redlands, 5-4.
"I give Redlands a lot of credit," said Williams' head coach Dave Donn. "They had the crowd behind them, and came out firing. They got up on us early. I was really proud of how we competed in singles. We had our backs up against the wall, but we just can't spot teams an early 3-0 lead."
Coming off an upset win over #7 Gustavus just two days ago, Redlands carried their momentum through to today against another higher ranked squad in Williams. While the Bulldog's number one pair of Cameron Spearman and Mike Reading played a solid match against the Ephs' Bret Thacher and Dicken Chaplin, the other two Redlands pairs only won by a break. One break was all it took though, as the final two doubles teams upped the Redlands lead to three.
The Ephs demonstrated their strength in singles play, tallying four wins. On a positive note, Weinberger captured his first singles win on spring break, defeating Reading by a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 score. Rick Devlin came back from a first set loss to notch a win at court three, while the two freshman Will Petrie and Kevin Shallcross delivered straight set wins.
The bookends of the Williams lineup, Lebedoff and Karol Furmaga, couldn't finish a Williams comeback. Lebedoff fell at court one, 6-4, 6-2, while Furmaga suffered his first loss in California by a 7-6, 4-6, 6-4 score.
Williams will look to rebound tomorrow, but have a tall task ahead. The Ephs face off against #3 Claremont tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. (PST).
Redlands 5, Williams 4
Doubles-
1) Cameron Spearman/Mike Reading (R) def. Bret Thacher/Dicken Chaplin (W) --- 8-4
2) Jeff Hammond/Kevin Wong (R) def. Nick Lebedoff/Will Petrie (W) --- 8-6
3) Chris Trippel/Casey Fashour (R) def. Kevin Shallcross/Jeremy Weinberger (W) --- 9-7
Singles-
1) Spearman (R) def. Lebedoff (W) --- 6-4, 6-2
2) Weinberger (W) def. Reading (R) --- 6-2, 3-6, 6-1
3) Rick Devlin (W) def. Trippel (R) --- 3-6, 7-5, 6-4
4) Petrie (W) def. Matt Liebman (R) --- 7-5, 6-4
5) Shallcross (W) def. Aron Ouye (R) --- 6-2, 6-1
6) Hammond (R) def. Karol Furmaga (W) --- 7-6, 4-6, 6-4
